Fade Away
by Haru Shinkai
Summary: The Original Chosen Children's Crests have stopped shining. Yolei, Cody and Ken's crests have fallen into the hands of the enemy. And the digital world is slowly fading into darkness. Can the DigiDestined stop this from happening before the digital world they once knew is gone?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay so as a new writer, I don't have much to say but I hope you will all enjoy my story. I also want to thank Broken Angel01 for the idea of Tai as a firefighter which I saw mentioned in her next gen fic, despite having not read it. So I'm not too proud of the Sorato scene but they're both a little subtle so I feel that's how it would be. Any tips are welcome though. Ages of the DigiDestined in my story are:

Tai, Matt and Sora: 23

Mimi and Izzy: 22

Joe: 24

Davis, Ken, TK and Kari: 19

Cody: 16

Yolei: 20

* * *

 **Chapter 01: Faded Crests**

It had been seven years since the defeat of MaloMyotismon and the gang had mostly remained close and everyone had decided to come together for Tai's soccer finale. If he won, he would be able to play in the International finale, something which he very much hoped for even if soccer was a side passion to his firefighting course. The group had been busy in their own lives because Matt had quit the band and was now working as a solo artist, Sora had begun a fashion designing course, Mimi was in America despite them keeping in touch with her regularly, Izzy had started a computer engineering course and Joe was well on his way to becoming a doctor. The younger group wasn't much different.

Yolei was doing a psychology course because she wanted to help people with their darkness, much like she had helped Kari in their adventure. Kari had followed her dream and started a teaching course where she had reunited with Noriko, the two having become good friends since they were doing the same course. TK was doing short writing courses and writing smaller stuff at home, publishing it on blogs, no matter how much everyone said he was wasting his life away by not doing something proper. Davis, on the other hand, as boring as it was had started a Bachelor in Business Administration so he could make the marks to start his noodle cart business eventually. Ken was in his first year of Policing because in order to be Detective, he'd need to be a police officer first. Cody was still in his second last year of high school which was getting even more stressful because he was about to graduate in a year or two.

Needless to say, Tai had hassled everyone a few times to make time to come to this soccer match and everyone had promised they would try. Tai was just changing into his soccer gear when he took out his phone to check the time on his phone, his Crest of Courage falling out accidentally. A couple of months after the defeat of MaloMyotismon, Gennai had contacted Izzy and told them that the material crests had been able to be recovered. The Original DigiDestined had been glad at this and instantly gone to the digital world to retrieve them.

Unfortunately, as soon as they returned back from retrieving the crests, the ports had closed without warning and even the D-3s could not open them. Izzy had attempted to get the ports open but seven years had passed since then and no such luck. The DigiDestined had attempted to move forward with their lives but it wasn't so easy and even though no one outright said anything they all missed the digimon deeply which was why the original DigiDestined kept their crests close while the younger ones did the same with their D-Terminals.

However, today when Tai's Crest fell out of his bag, his eyes widened as his normally bright shining orange crest was a dull black right now. He didn't understand why and what could have gone wrong now but the dull Crest made a chill run down his spine. They hadn't been able to find a way into the Digital World for awhile – could something have gone wrong already? Before he could think much member, one of his team members Nori came inside.

"Hey Tai you ready to come out yet?" He asked softly.

Tai nodded. "Yeah I'll be right out." He shoved his Crest back in his bag and put in the corner of the locker room. He'd have to ask Izzy about it after the game. _Agumon, please be alright. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you._

* * *

Kari had been finishing off some work for University but decided to leave it for tomorrow since she had a day off. Besides, she had promised her brother to attend his soccer match. Her hair had grown slightly longer and now touched her shoulders somewhat. She decided to wear her beautiful crest as a necklace as it was always a reminder of the special moments she shared with her best Digital Friend seven years ago.

As she reached to take it out though, a gasp left her lips as she saw the darkened crest. Something inside her heart clenched as it began beating way too fast for it to be considered normal. What could have gone wrong? Even through all her adventures, Gatomon had never lost her light – did that mean she had lost it? Kari knew she had been a little depressed lately but didn't think it was enough to get her Crest to stop shining altogether.

Looking at the time again, she tugged her Crest under her shirt and headed out. That was a mistake though because as soon as she stepped out, her Crest tightened against her throat and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Coughing to try and get her breath back, her fingers clasped around the string of the Crest which she tugged at causing it to break and fall to the floor. The brunette coughed into her hand, clutching at her chest and wondered what on earth was going on.

 _The Crest is acting kind of strange…maybe I shouldn't take it with me after all._

Kari wrapped it in some tissues and shoved it into her handbag and once she was stable enough, she began to head to the soccer game, hoping against hope that something wasn't terribly wrong.

* * *

Mimi was happy to be back in Japan. She had arrived last night and could not wait to surprise Tai at his soccer game. She had heard the whole team would be there so she'd really surprise them all. She wondered how much everyone had changed. She was still tired from the flight but she wanted to be there for the game as she had a rather soft spot for the goggleheaded boy since their first adventure but he had never seemed interest so she didn't make it obvious. Touching up her make-up slightly, she headed to the field, seeing Tai and the others warming up. "Tai! Hey!"

Tai's teammates all looked at each other.

"Tai, that your girlfriend man?" Teruo, a teammate of Tai's said. "She's hot."

Mimi giggled at this especially since Tai flushed at the comment and this made her curious. Had she changed that much that she had made him speechless? She didn't know but either way, she shook her head. Tai would never just go for her because she was pretty…he had more depth than that or she would have never fallen for him.

"No, she's just a friend," Tai finally replied before approaching her. "Hey Mimi I didn't expect you to be here." A small smile appeared on his face and his eyes brightened slightly.

Mimi smiled. "I wanted to surprise you! Are you ready for the match?"

Tai nodded and shrugged. "Yeah I guess…"

Mimi searched his face and realized he didn't seem his usual upbeat self. She could tell he was happy she was here but something seemed to be bothering him. "Tai what is it? What's wrong?"

Tai shook his head. "Nothing Mimi…sorry about Teruo. He's a bit of an idiot."

Mimi giggled at the apology. "Are you flustered at me being called your girlfriend?"

Tai turned slightly pink and raised an eyebrow, leaning close to her, so close that Mimi could feel his breath trickle her ear. "Should I be?"

Mimi's own face flushed slightly pink and her heart skipped a beat. Okay, so her friend was sending her…some signals possibly or was he just flirting? He was a jock now, so either could be possible when it came to him. But two could play that game. "Well…" She twirled a lock of her brown hair, gazing innocently into his beautiful brown eyes. "I am irresistible…"

"Is that it, Princess?" Tai said coyly, pressing a soft kiss to her neck causing the brunette to gasp. He heard wolf-whistles behind him and suddenly pulled away, turning red and rubbing the back of his head. "Guys! Focus on the game! The match is about to start!"

"You two make a cute couple," Nori teased.

Mimi was a little confused at Tai's sudden pulling away. What did these signals mean? Did Tai like her or was he just messing around with her? She decided to push away those thoughts since he was her friend so he would never hurt her no matter what happened. She observed him trying to get his teammates away. "Tai? Are you sure something isn't bothering you?"

Tai turned to him, rubbing the back of his head. "Well actually…" He didn't have the chance to say just what was bothering him though as the game starting signal signed then. "I have to go! We'll talk later!"

The brunette sighed and wished she could be more sincere with herself. She had always kept her feelings to herself since the first adventure because she felt Tai liked Sora. But now with Sora and Matt dating, she didn't know how Tai felt about it. Given the fact that he seemed pretty normal around Matt, she guessed it didn't bother him. _Why can't I just be honest with my own feelings?_ She wished she knew but all she knew was that when Tai pressed that kiss to her neck, her heart felt as if it would burst and she knew Tai had probably heard how fast her heart was beating. And he was clearly enjoying flirting with her…or maybe he was just teasing her. Gosh, this was too much thinking and she decided she'd talk to Sora about it.

* * *

Matt placed a flower in Sora's hair, one he had actually gotten from her flower shop and took her hand in his own. He had never been an expert on love and for a long time, he hadn't realized his feelings for Sora had grown. They had always been friends but as she grew into a beautiful young woman with a heart of gold, he realized his feelings for her had surpassed friendship ages ago.

Sora blushed, a small smile gracing her features. "It's beautiful, Matt." Her heart skipped a beat at how much he always did for her.

"Not more than you," The blond whispered in response, putting a strand of her hair behind her ear causing her to smile.

"Matt…you're amazing," Sora said softly. "I'm so lucky." She wrapped her arms around him, leaning a bit to rest her head on his shoulder, since he was slightly taller than her.

"I'm the lucky one," Matt replied, kissing her just below the earlobe causing her to shiver in slight pleasure. He knew they had to go to Tai's soccer match as they had both promised him they'd be there but he'd risk being late because right now being in the arms of the woman he loved was a lot more beautiful than anything in the world. Everything else seemed insignificant. No one and nothing else mattered but the woman in his arms who could light up the whole world with her amazing smile.

* * *

Izzy, being the smart one and the definite keeper of Knowledge as many would call him had noticed his Crest a few days ago and had immediately called Ken and Yolei over a bit before Tai's soccer game was due to start. They were both smart as well, so he figured discussing this with them before anyone else would be the best idea so he had called them over.

"So Izzy what's the big emergency?" Yolei asked as she sat down.

"My Crest has died," Izzy told them both, showing it to them for confirmation sakes. "Ken, do you still have your Crest?"

Ken shook his head. "I gave it up to stop the reactor remember? But I don't understand why the original crests have died. Your Crest was the Crest of Knowledge after all and you haven't stopped trying to learn new things. In fact with your course, you've only learnt more and more things to be honest. I don't really understand why the Crests have died to be honest."

Izzy sighed. He didn't understand it either. "I wish I could answer that…my only theory is something has gone wrong with the digital world but I can't get a gate to open even with the D-3 so I'm not sure what to do. I was hoping you guys had some ideas to be honest because I've tried everything I can." He didn't like sounding so hopeless but he had tried everything he could, hacking, changing data, you name it and still had come with nothing. It was as if the digital world had been cut out from their lives, as if it were never there in the first place.

Ken and Yolei exchanged a glance, before the former quickly flushed and looked away.

"Do you feel that someone manipulated the data of the digital world itself?" Yolei asked curiously unsure of what to think about things right now.

"Is that even possible?" Ken said quietly. "I mean even when I built the Control Spires, it didn't lock the gates and that changed the data of the digital world too remember?"

Izzy and Yolei both nodded, the former pondering this.

"I say we discuss this with the others and see if their crests have faded away as well," Izzy said before checking the time. "Besides, Tai's soccer game has already started and we should at least be there for some of it."

Ken laughed at that. "I told Davis I'd be a little late anyway."

Yolei huffed. "Davis is always late anyway! I have no idea how Kari is going to deal with that when they get married."

Ken appeared puzzled at this and glanced at Yolei in confusion who flushed and turned away. Izzy hid a smile at this. He may act clueless but he did know Ken and Yolei felt something for one another even if the two didn't realise it yet themselves.

"Come on," Izzy said, packing his computer and burying his Crest somewhere in his computer bag. "Tai's going to be disappointed if we don't show up. And Ken? Can you make sure Davis does get there? I know Tai was really looking forward to him being there."

Ken finally looked away from Yolei (who wasn't looking at him after her slip of tongue) and nodded at Izzy, texting Davis. "I'll make sure he gets there. Let's head out."

* * *

Davis on the other hand was rushing to get to Tai's soccer game because he was late as usual. It wasn't his fault – it was Jun's! Honestly, why did that stupid girl always needed to start an argument at the wrong time when he had other things to worry about? He managed to just make it though at the same time as Kari who was sitting in the bleachers, looking worried about something.

"Hey what's up?" Davis said, going and sitting next to her.

Kari looked up at him with a small smile. "You're late."

Davis huffed. "It was Jun's fault! She started arguing with me about how her hair looked cause she was going on a date with Jim! I swear, that girl…sometimes I wish I was an only child!"

Kari laughed a small bit. "Jun cares about you a lot and I know you care about her too. Can't you two try and get along?"

"She's the one who always starts the fights!" Davis retorted and flushed as Kari raised her eyebrow at that. "Ok fine maybe I start some of them too…but only some of them."

Kari sighed. "Oh Davis..."

Davis shrugged. He knew he and Jun got into a lot of fights but it was just the way they were. When the battle of MaloMyotismon had been ongoing, he knew Jun was worrying over him from what his Mom and Dad had told him but now that things were okay, anyway Kari seemed worried about something and why was her neck red? "Kari, what happened to your neck?"

Kari tensed a bit, averting her gaze to the floor. "Nothing."

"Kari…" Davis said, crossing his arms. "Look, we've been friends for a long time and I know when something's wrong and something's wrong so what's wrong?"

Kari shivered a bit, biting her lower lip. "My Crest…it won't shine anymore, Davis. And I tried to put it around my neck since I always wear it as a necklace and it tightened around it trying to choke me. It's in my bag right now but I had to cut apart the strings…" A tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what to think. I…I haven't lost my light have I?"

Davis listened to her and pulled her into a hug. In many ways, Kari reminded him of Ken. Both of them were way too hard on themselves and took too much responsibility of things that weren't really their fault ultimately. "I don't buy it for a minute that you've lost your light. When the darkness is at it's peak, Kari, your light shines through the darkness. You're the light that wards off the darkness and I know…you can still brighten me up and bring a smile to my face no matter what mood I'm in and I'm sure the others feel the same."

Kari buried her face in Davis's shoulder, a few tears rolling down her cheek even though his words brought her comfort. Did she really make him feel like that? "Thank you Davis…I just wish I knew what was wrong."

Davis stroked her hair, his cheeks turning slightly pink as he comforted her and was glad Kari's face was hidden in his shoulder so she couldn't see his face. Why was he feeling like this? Why was his heart beating so fast all of a sudden? He had told himself he had gotten over the beautiful woman in his arms – she liked T.K. so he didn't stand a chance and he had come to terms with that awhile ago and stopped being so jealous of his two friends. Then why was his heart skipping a beat now? Ignoring this, he focused on Kari's words. "We'll talk to Izzy about it, maybe he knows something." He then quickly pulled away from her. "Anyway, we should get back to the game."

"Davis?" Kari said puzzled. "Are you…?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Davis quickly cut her off. "We'll focus on this after the game ok?" He moved to sit down just as Izzy, Ken and Yolei came in, leaving Kari staring at him in surprise.

* * *

Cody and TK were walking towards Tai's soccer match together and Cody appeared puzzled by the information his DNA partner had told him.

"And your Crest stopped shining?" Cody confirmed.

TK nodded quickly. "Yeah I looked at it this morning and it was completely dull." Something which made his heart sink in his chest. Losing Patamon was a wound that had never really healed to be honest and it probably never would and the fact that his amazing partner might have lost hope sent shivers down his spine. Mainly because Patamon was more optimistic than he was. It was Patamon who believed they'd see each other again after the first adventure when he had been crying his eyes out at the fact that they had to separate.

"That is odd," Cody mused. "Sure, you've grown up TK but you still always encourage all of us to follow our dreams so I don't think there's anything wrong with your hope…I wish I could say this with the same certainty for our digimon though."

"Me too," TK agreed with a sigh. "I really don't want to lose Patamon again." They had finally arrived at the soccer game which had already started. His brother and Sora weren't there yet, neither was Joe but Davis, Kari, Ken, Izzy and Yolei were there already. So was…wow was that Mimi? She sure had changed from the second adventure. Her hair now went down to her waist, curly and brown and she had grown taller and definitely yes…more attractive, but not moreso than Kari.

He wasn't sure what his feelings for Kari were. He cared about her and thought the two of them definitely had something between them but Kari so silent about her feelings that he could never tell what she was really thinking unless she told him what she was feeling. However, pushing that aside, he went to join his friends and sat with them. "Hey guys."

"Hey TK," Yolei said smiling a bit. "Looks like we all got a little late huh? Hey Kari, is Noriko coming?"

Kari shook her head. "She's still a bit uncomfortable with the whole group considering everything that happened and all. Besides, we all made it to the match. TK, isn't Matt coming?"

TK sighed. "He had a date with Sora so the two of them will probably come together." He glanced at Mimi who was having some conversation with Izzy in a serious tone and wondered what the two of them were talking about. Maybe they had noticed about the crests too? Izzy probably had, knowing him and was telling Mimi about it. He sighed, leaning back into his seat and turning to watch the game. Somehow, his gut feeling said something wasn't right in the digital world and that he would be seeing Patamon again real soon. _I just hope he's alright when I do see him again…_

* * *

Joe knew Tai would be disappointed. He had missed all his friend's calls and only sent a text that he wasn't coming. He did feel a little guilty considering Tai had really wanted him to be there but he couldn't. Medical School was getting tougher and if he ever wanted to really be a doctor, he had to work hard. _Not that I'll be able to become one…my scores are never even close to the top ten._ Of course he had never told his friends this because they'd just encourage him that he could do it even if deep inside they knew otherwise. Gomamon would probably do that too.

His thoughts drifted to his partner as he put his pencil down and wished the little guy was here. He always knew what to say to make him feel better and Gomamon was a horrible liar. He knew if the digimon said he could do it, he'd honestly believe it too. But he knew, right now even Gomamon would think he was in over his head. His phone rang again and he almost was ready to press the cancel button when he saw it was Sora calling and sighed. He answered it.

"Yes, Sora?" Joe said softly.

"Matt and I are almost at Tai's game," Sora spoke into the phone. "Are you sure you can't come? Not even for a few minutes?"

"I'm sorry Sora," Joe said sighing a bit. "I wish I could but I have an exam tomorrow and really can't focus on taking a break right now."

There was a pause before he heard Sora sigh a small bit. "Alright, well you know we're all rooting for you to become a doctor but please don't push yourself too hard. You are eating and sleeping aren't you?"

Joe couldn't help but laugh at that. It was so like Sora to make sure he wasn't overworking himself, they didn't call her the Team Mom for nothing. "Yes, Sora, I'm making sure I eat and sleep." _For the most part…_ He had been neglecting his health a bit but Sora didn't need to know that part since he hadn't crashed…yet. Plus she would just worry, tell Tai and gather a team confrontation like the last time he had gotten too depressed. They had even brought Mimi on video call from America! Honestly, he loved how much his friends cared but even they couldn't do anything about the failure he'd become.

"That's good then," Sora said, sighing in relief. "Take care of yourself ok Joe?"

"I will," Joe promised. "Thanks Sora. You and Matt have fun at Tai's game. Bye." He hung up and put his head on the table. _I'm sorry Tai. You deserve a better friend than me._


	2. Chapter 2

Hello there. Okay, thank you for the amazing reviews on the first chapter. I really appreciate the reviews I've gotten and hope you lovely amazing people keep reading with how hard I'm trying for this story. This chapter focuses on the digimon and I've tried to give them all their individual personalities which was not easy, given the show didn't give them all that much.

* * *

 **Chapter 02: Loss of Spirit**

Agumon couldn't believe they had all gotten separated from one another as he ran from a dark digimon. None of them knew who this enemy was and where he had come from but he had struck terror within the digital world as had never been seen before and many digimon had been captured under it already. It called itself The Hollow and looked neither human nor digimon in appearance. Word was going around that it wanted Omnimon and Imperialdramon under it's control, so the twelve chosen digimon had tried to keep Agumon, Gabumon, Veemon and Wormmon well-hidden although that idea quickly went down the drain when a willing minion of The Hollow, HiMachineDramon levelled the whole city leading them to scatter.

Agumon was currently being chased by Chrysalimon and Dracmon although he knew he stood no chance against Chrysalimon without digivolving. _Tai where are you?_ Things had gone downhill in the digital world and were worse than they had ever been. Even their former allies had turned against them in fear of going against The Hollow so all the twelve Chosen digimon had was each other and now even they had been separated. However, the yellow dinosaur could no longer run, his legs giving away as he collapsed to the ground. Even if he had the strength, was there any point in continuing to fight? Without his human partner, he was an easy target.

 _I have to get up. I have to get up or I'll be captured by them and if Gabumon and I are captured...then the Digital World is doomed._ With these thoughts in mind, Agumon tried to force his legs to work and to stand up and fight but before he could, fangs sunk into the side of his neck and he cried out, trying to throw Dracmon off but didn't have the strength as he felt digital blood seeping from his wound. His vision swam before his eyes before everything went black.

* * *

"Gabumon help me!" Biyomon cried as she was grabbed by BlackGrowlmon and squirmed but soon fell limp due to another digimon that had come forward. Gabumon and Biyomon had been together but they had somewhat scattered. When Biyomon was captured though, Gabumon had heard her cries but not gone out to help. He was hidden in a small cave and it was only a matter of time before he knew he would be found. Biyomon's screams hurt and he knew as her friend, he should go and help her but there was nothing he could do.

If he went out there to help and he got caught, it would be worse than Biyomon getting caught. Even with this logical explanation, his heart wavered but he pushed it aside. His friend would forgive him and understand. He moved deeper into the cave, his heart still trembling at the thought that he had been there and he should have helped but he hadn't.

 _So much for being the Digimon of Friendship_ A voice taunted in his head that sounded way too much like Matt for his liking. His heart sunk even more. What would Matt have said if he knew that he had abandoned one of his dear friends and the partner of Matt's girlfriend, just so he wouldn't be hurt or captured as well?

He knew it was wrong but he had been scared - he hadn't wanted to be captured and used against his own home? He didn't want to be used like a toy because if this Hollow got its hands on him, there would be no mercy. Biyomon and the others may survive but he knew he definitely would not and that was a fact that even Matt wouldn't deny if he ever came to this world.

* * *

Biyomon sunk to her knees in a dark, dim-lit dungeon with only one candle lighting up the entire room. Tears fell down her cheeks. Gabumon hadn't gotten that far from her had he? She wished he had come to save her because she had been terrified when BlackGrowlmon had gotten a hold of her. They had all gotten separated but they all still cared about each other right? She didn't know anymore because back then, she had a feeling Gabumon wasn't too far and still he hadn't saved her and what she didn't understand was why?

 _I thought we all loved each other...but first we split up and now we're not even helping each other...I don't understand...have we drifted that far apart?_ Her eyes welled up with tears and for not the first time, she found herself missing Sora more than anything because she knew if her partner was here, there was no way she'd ever abandon her, no matter how scared of the consequences she was.

Her heart hurt at the thought that she was all alone. None of the other digimon cared - there was nothing she had left now and it hurt. Burying her head in her feathers, she silently began to cry, weary not to make too much noise because she knew she would not be shown mercy, none so at all.

* * *

Gomamon pulled his head out of the water, shivering a small bit. He knew he should have lead the others to this and he might have if this much chaos hadn't broken out but right now, going and looking for them was suicide and besides, once he reached Joe, he'd be able to work things out. He always had come through for him before even when things appeared to be too hopeless and he hoped it would be the same now. He wasn't the Digimon of Hope but he had to believe right now. He couldn't help the others if he didn't survive first. Slowly, he swam deeper and deeper until he found it. It was a small glowing object which had the symbol of Miracles on it. Somehow, he had a feeling that this would lead him to his friend.

 _Am I being selfish going on my own? I should find the others...make sure they're safe...but is there a point? I can't really save them anymore not on my own...gosh I sound as pessimistic as Joe. But with the situation...man I don't even know what I want. I'm tired of running though and I just want to sleep. Joe and the others can figure something out._

With that thought last in his mind, he grabbed hold of the crest or at least that was what it looked like and the whole ocean lit up. Gomamon could hear the sound of a voice singing...a female voice that almost sounded soothing. That was the last thing he heard before the ocean disappeared from his sight and he fell through, landing on something hard.

"Gomamon?!" Joe's panicked voice instantly put the little rookie at ease and relaxed that he was in safe hands now, he passed out.

* * *

Palmon didn't know whether she was lucky or unlucky although she did know one thing and that was the fact that she was definitely doing a lot better than her friends were. She had seen Biyomon and Agumon being dragged in and while her heart bled for her friends, she knew if she spoke up, she'd meet the same fate and then she would be useless to them. She didn't like this at all though.

Whilst she had managed to gather a perfect disguise with help from Monzaemon that made her hard to be recognised because she looked like her evil counterpart Aruraumon, who was known to be follower of evil digimon before them such as Daemon so she fit in perfectly. The plant digimon had managed to get in on a good note with The Hollow, no matter how much her entire body trembled anytime she was in the same room with him. The darkness in that creature made her feel as if she were being crushed and she could no longer find a way out of it.

However, as she saw Agumon being beaten by other digimon that were much bigger and stronger, she wanted to rush out and save him but held herself back, turning her head away. Her friend's screams were painful to hear and it was hard not to tremble at his pain but there was nothing she could do. Her wants would have to wait because her dying would not help anyone. Her eyes welled up with tears but she quickly pushed them aside as she was called inside the main room by The Hollow. A black cloak around his shoulders, purple claw-like hands and two round yellow eyes were all that could be seen of the creature.

"Yes Master?" Palmon said, attempting to keep her voice chipper which admittedly took a lot of effort.

"Bring me Agumon," A cold voice spoke. "I may not have Gabumon but I can start experimenting on the first half of what makes Omnimon. He'll be broken enough by now."

A chill ran down Palmon's spine but she managed a nod. "Consider it done." _Forgive me, Agumon._

* * *

Tentomon coughed as he was thrown roughly into the cage next to Biyomon and did not struggle at first. He knew he had taken a leaf out of Agumon's book and been impulsive but how could he not? Saving your friends was logical wasn't it? He didn't know anymore but all he had done was rush at the enemy without thinking of the consequences. He knew it wasn't smart but what was the smart thing to do? Let your friends get captured? He didn't know what to believe anymore.

 _Izzy what would you have done? Would you have saved yourself so you could come up with a smarter plan to help all your friends? Or would you have acted in the same manner as me?_

Even though he had been caught, what worried him more was Agumon being caught especially when one of The Hollow's minions Aruraumon appeared carrying an obviously weakened Agumon back outside somewhere. This worried him. What were they going to do with Agumon? He forced himself up, sending his attack at the bars of the cage but it had no effect and just fizzled out into the floor, causing him to sigh. He should have expected it. What had happened to his brain? It was as if something was blocking his ability and he had no idea what to do about that. He hoped those of them who hadn't been caught wouldn't be because otherwise they may never get out of this...

* * *

"Patamon!" Gatomon cried, kneeling besides her hamster like friend as he suddenly collapsed, beginning to let out whimpering noises. Unsure of what to do without getting them caught, she simply pulled her friend into her arms. "Pata? Pata, what is it?"

Patamon coughed, whimpering. "I feel like someone is shredding my heart...it hurts Gatomon, I want TK..."

 _Shredding his heart? That made no sense..._

A painful scream left Patamon as he thrashed around, as if something invisible were choking him. He gasped, struggling to breath even as evil digimon surrounded them. Gatomon's eyes widened and she picked Patamon up, beginning to run so they both wouldn't be captured but a laser attack shot at them causing the orange hamster to go flying out of her arms. The feline digimon let out a sound of frustration, wishing she could just become Angewomon and push all these evil digimon away.

"Give up, Gatomon," A very familiar voice said and Gatomon froze. No way, it couldn't be - why was he attacking them? She turned, her eyes beginning to narrow as she realised it was. In a blue robe that was much different to the white one he usually wore, standing before her was Gennai. The look in his eyes was not his warm, friendly one that they had seen before.

"I-I don't understand," Gatomon stammered even as Patamon let out another moan of pain. "I thought we were allies." Her eyes drifted to the Centarumon next to Gennai and realised he did not look like his normal friendly self either.

"Not anymore, Gatomon," Gennai said somberly. "I'm afraid Hope has turned into Despair and the Chosen digimon right now are the biggest threat to The Hollow. Thus, your journey ends here." Before Gatomon could even move to defend herself, Gennai threw disc-like objects at the ground, which exploded.

"No!" Gatomon attempted to run to Patamon and barely managed to push him out of the way, otherwise that disk would have turned them both into bits of data. _I can't believe it. Gennai...betraying us? Betraying the DigiDestined? If Gennai can betray us, does that mean our human partners can as well?_ She didn't want to believe it - but she couldn't believe a dear friend such as Gennai who had always tried to help them so much had just tried to kill them. She didn't know - she didn't understand - was anything real? Before she could ponder on this too much though, Gennai seemed to have realised her and Patamon were alive. That was when she realised.

In order to survive, she couldn't stop holding herself back. Patamon was in pain and their partners weren't going to come to their rescue this time - they were on their own, no she was on her own. Patamon was useless in this condition - _if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself._ That was the principal she had lived by before she had met Kari and it seemed she would have to go back to that again if she wanted to survive. Pushing back all emotions, her gaze hardened, a dark aura beginning to flicker as she lunged with claws out, slicing through Centarumon's data as if it were nothing. Centarumon's data flickered out and Gatomon turned to glower at Gennai.

"Do you want to be next?" A cold, almost foreign voice left Gatomon's lips that even she, herself didn't recognise. It seemed as if Gennai got the message though and vanished from there.

* * *

Veemon winced as the cold, hard whip bore down his back and could feel the digital blood seeping through and he coughed. He and Wormmon had been captured by some unfriendly digimon who wanted to gain a good name with The Hollow and right now, pain surged through him and he was screaming as if he never had before. He wanted to dedigivolve and be in Davis's warm embrace, protected from the cruelties of these evil digimon who only wanted to break them before sending them to The Hollow to gain their rewards in return.

When had the digital world become so selfish? Digimon that were meant to be their friends had even turned their back on them. The Hollow was gaining more and more support day by day with the fear it was inflicting in the hearts of the digimon. Had courage completely died from this world? The meaning of loyalty to a friend, was it really completely shattered? It had been so easy to shatter. If Davis was in this world and he saw the condition, would he have switched sides too?

 _No, never. Davis would never abandon me, no matter what._

He felt bad for even doubting his friend as he breathed raggedly but wished the torture would stop because he wanted to check on Wormmon. While he had been treated horribly and his normally blue body right now was so red with digital blood that his form was hardly recognisable, Wormmon had it much worse because he was considered a 'traitor' who had helped bring the Digimon Emperor down and was punished much worse for that.

His own eyes closed as he was thrown back roughly to the ground and managed to grab his small crate of water which wasn't much and took a tiny sip from it before shifting over to Wormmon, whose data was flickering and his eyes were opening and closing.

"Wormmon," Veemon managed, his own voice hoarse and tired from the beating he had endured. "Please...have this water."

* * *

Wormmon lay on the cold dungeon grounds, digital blood coating his tiny body as he let out shaky breaths. He had never before cared if the digital world - or at the very least dark digimon considered him a 'traitor' amongst them and never regretted helping Ken find his way back to the light through his sacrifice. But being thrown around now by these dark digimon made him wonder how much longer he would survive. He had accepted being pushed around by Ken because in order to guide him, he needed to be by his side. But...being pushed around constantly like this seemed to be a part of his life now.

Ken had been cruel but he hadn't starved him or taken away his main needs. He would provide him with food and water...despite constantly beating on him. How these digimon could be so heartless was beyond him just because he was labeled as the traitor. _They feed on your helplessness because they know you won't go anywhere. Ken did as well. He knew he could hurt you and you would never leave. Kindness is only an illusion...Ken still knows, even if he goes back to being the Digimon Emperor, he can treat you however he wants._

No! That wasn't true. Ken wasn't that person anymore and he had never meant to hurt him. He knew that. Ken was very kind and considerate to him but if he is, then why hasn't he felt anything? Why hadn't he felt that Wormmon was in danger and come to save him? If he cared so much, where was he? Why wasn't he here? If he cared enough, he should have found a way to open the portal and see the hell that the digital world had become. He should have gathered him in his arms and stood tall against The Hollow who had made all their lives miserable.

His thoughts were distracted as a very weak Veemon only took a tiny sip from his own crate of water and handed the rest to him. He didn't understand...why was Veemon being so kind? Was this kindness an illusion as well? He didn't know but he drank down all the water, because it would give him the strength to go on just a little longer.

* * *

Armadillomon whimpered, burying himself further under the ground. He couldn't dig as well as Digmon could but he just wanted these evil digimon to stay away. He wasn't as brave as Veemon, or as hopeful as Patamon, or as resourceful as Gatomon. He didn't even have Hawkmon's ability to remain calm in harsh situations or Wormmon's opinion that kindness would get them through even the darkest of times. He wasn't like his friends - he wasn't good enough to stand tall against the enemy, without Cody at least.

All he was and all he had always been was the comic relief, the one to crack a joke when things became dark, the one to lighten the mood when fights broke out between members. But now when they were all separated, he was at a loss of what he could do so he had dug a hole and buried himself underground, covering it from the top so no one would ever find him. It was cowardice but he had no idea where his friends had gone off to and even if he did, he probably would get himself and them into more trouble.

 _Cody please come soon...I'm useless without you._

* * *

Lunamon was not one of the DigiDestined digimon, at least not one of the main twelve. However, being the digivolved partner of Noriko Kawada, she felt it her duty to do her best to help them as much as she could. Not having much experience with fighting herself, she had the skill of being able to blend within crowds without creating too much chaos. It was how she had survived this far and how she had managed to bring an ill Hawkmon to her hideout within the bushes.

Being a natural caretaker, she tended to him as he seemed to have caught a common cold possibly from running around in this scorching heat. She didn't know if Noriko would ever find her way to the digital world but even if she didn't, she herself wanted to be of some help to the Chosen digimon. Laying Hawkmon by the fire, she silently ate some fruits as he coughed in his sleep and wondered if she would wake him so he could eat something, take some herbs to make him feel better and then go back to resting. Thinking this was a good idea, she moved to his side and gently shook him.

"Hey, wake up," Lunamon said gently and Hawkmon opened his eyes, cheeks flushed and coughing weakly.

"H-hey...where am I?" Hawkmon asked, trying to sit up but was unable to due to limited strength.

"I found you in the dessert," Lunamon admitted. "You're one of the chosen digimon aren't you? Yolei Inoue's partner if I remember correctly?"

Hawkmon's eyes seemed to dull a bit. "I guess...I used to be back then...I'm not sure what I am anymore, other than a target to be used..."

Lunamon's heart clenched seeing the helplessness in his eyes and wished there was something she could do but she pushed the thought aside. It wasn't right for him to lose faith in his human partner like this. She may have barely known Noriko but she believed her partner would come and she knew they weren't as close as Yolei and Hawkmon were, because those two had shared an adventure together. If he wasn't sick, she might have hit him for sounding so hopeless but even now, her eyes narrowed sternly.

"How can you lose faith in your partner like that?" Lunamon said harshly, ignoring the voice in her head that said she was coming on too strong for a digimon that was sick and probably very tired. Sometimes, a little tough love was needed. "Has Yolei ever abandoned you before? If she hasn't, why do you think she would now?"

"What else am I supposed to think?" Hawkmon said, looking away so Lunamon wouldn't see his eyes water slightly. "Whenever I was in trouble before, she'd come to my aid right away...now it's been four whole months since The Hollow started wreaking havoc and there's no sign of Yolei. There's no sign of anyone of them...why? How am I supposed to believe in anything anymore?"

Lunamon sighed, rolling her eyes at the bird digimon missing the obvious. "Have you ever thought maybe she can't get here? Maybe she wants to more than anything but the person who guided them to the digital world or at least assisted them there is no longer on their side. Have you and the chosen digimon been sleeping this entire time?!" Her voice had raised without meaning to but she hated a defeatist attitude. Heck, she hadn't even fought a real battle with Noriko yet and still she believed if they worked together, they would stand somewhat of a chance against this creep. But not alone. Her and Noriko weren't nearly experienced enough to be able to even survive a battle alone but working with the other twelve DigiDestined, she felt they stood a chance.

Hawkmon winced at her tone, holding his head. "W-what are you talking about? I-I really have no idea."

This did surprise Lunamon and she sighed. No wonder he felt so hopeless.

"Sorry..." Lunamon murmured. "I thought you of all digimon would know that Gennai and his counterparts are no longer our allies. They're working with The Hollow." She had been devastated when she had found this out but if the Chosen Twelve didn't know about this, it's no wonder they felt helpless against whatever was happening.

"W-what?!" Hawkmon cried. "Are you sure about this Lunamon? Why would Gennai betray us?"

Lunamon shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure. That's a question even I can't answer. Either way, you need to restore your energy." She passed him a crate of fruits. "Have some of these so I can give you some herbal medicine to help you recover from your cold...I'm sorry I was so harsh. I thought you guys already knew." Guilt seeped inside her but she pushed it aside, passing over the crate to Hawkmon who managed a nod, slowly beginning to nibble on the fruit. After a few minutes of nibbling, Hawkmon sent Lunamon a grateful smile.

"Thank you," Hawkmon said softly.

Lunamon smiled. "My pleasure."


	3. Chapter 3

Okay everyone thank you so much for all the support you've given me so far. Your support keeps me going - and I hope you continue to give me all this fuel. Our characters appreciate you loving this story. This chapter was hard due to so many POVs but I hope it comes out alright. Also, the thoughts Gatomon has on Patamon are not meant to be bashing. It's just the darkness talking.

* * *

 **Chapter 03: Finding a Way**

Joe had been studying when his computer started acting odd and as he looked to it, Gomamon came out of it and all he could do was shout his partner's name because before he could ask what was going on, the little digimon had passed out. It was then that Joe took notice of the bruises covering the little digimon's body and he quickly began tending to his partner and once he looked a bit better, he curled him closer into his arms and hurried out.

If he was lucky, Tai's soccer game might have ended by now. He ignored his mother, who was about to ask about Gomamon because he didn't have time. Yes, he hadn't wanted to get back into this again but his heart clenched seeing his best Digital Friend like this. What could have happened to cause this? Wasn't Gennai supposed to inform Izzy if something went wrong in the digital world? Honestly...he was lucky though. Tai's teammates were all heading to the locker room by the time he arrived at the field and the group was gathering around in a circle.

"Guys!" Joe cried, running over to them causing them to look up. There were gasps and shocked expressions at the sight of Gomamon.

"Joe, what's Gomamon doing here?" Sora asked but before he could reply, Mimi tackled him into a hug, nearly squishing poor Gomamon in the process.

"Joe!" Mimi squealed happily. "I missed you! You know my dad transferred back to Japan for awhile so I'm going to be here now which is great cause I missed all of you so much..."

Joe flushed a bit at Mimi's enthusiasm. Even after seven years, his usually hyper friend had not changed at all. "T-that's great Mimi...but we're crushing Gomamon."

"Oh sorry!" Mimi giggled, looking a little sheepish as she backed away and allowed for Joe to take a seat sitting besides him.

"What's going on Joe?" Izzy asked and Joe sighed.

"Gomamon appeared a few minutes ago in my bedroom," Joe explained to the others. "Before I could ask him what was going on, he passed out. I couldn't think of what else to do so I came to join you guys." He looked down at his partner in worry. He had never seen him this worn out even when the Digimon Emperor had him attacked. He adjusted his grip, loosening a bit as Gomamon stirred and opened his eyes.

"Joe..." Gomamon said weakly and Joe smiled.

"Hey..." Joe began but Davis cut through him.

"What the hell happened Gomamon?!" Davis said impulsively. "Where are Veemon and the others? Why are you the only one here? The ports have been closed for seven years...if something had gone wrong in the digital world, wouldn't Gennai tell us?"

Gomamon flinched, curling close into Joe's chest and closing his eyes, not saying a word. Joe could feel his digital partner trembling and this made his heart sink. Gomamon was one of the most positive digimon and usually he was the one telling Joe to have a little hope and now he was...however, his friend had curled into him for protection so protect him, he would. He may not be the bravest of them but Gomamon needed him.

"Drop it Davis," Joe said in a soft voice. "I don't feel Gomamon is in any condition to answer anything right now. He's scared."

Davis frowned a bit but sighed. "I guess you're right...I'm just worried about Veemon."

"'M sorry," Gomamon's voice was quiet when he finally spoke and he was still trembling but it was enough for everyone to hear. "I'm sorry I'm not brave like Agumon, Tai. Or a good friend like Gabumon is - I'm not as strong as them either. If I became a slave too, I would have never been able to come back...I'm a bad friend I'm sorry. I was scared...he's merciless...I would have been..."

Joe had no idea what Gomamon was talking about and even Izzy looked confused at how incomprehensible his partner sounded but one thing was for certain. The digital world was no longer safe. "Izzy what's going on?"

Izzy exhaled a small bit and didn't take his eyes off of his laptop. "Have you all checked your crests lately?"

Tai quickly nodded. "Yeah, my crest has faded. You think it has something to do with the digital world after all then?" Being the leader, he had gotten somewhat better about masking his concern but his eyes still showed signs of worry.

Mimi appeared to be thinking about it. "I haven't checked my crest yet but if it has faded, what does it mean?" Her eyes appeared very concerned. "What's happened to Palmon?"

Sora placed a gentle hand on Mimi's shoulder. "I haven't checked mine either...but tell us Izzy what's going on?" She squeezed Matt's hand with her free hand because the blond boy was much too quiet for it to be considered normal.

"Izzy?" TK said softly as well.

Izzy wished he didn't have to be this brutally honest with his friends but... "It does seem our digimon have lost their crest qualities. Gomamon leaving and coming to the real world - in one sense, he did abandon his friends which is not very reliable and is not a positive sign, given the crest he represents."

Joe winced a small bit, looking at the expression on his partner's face. "He was scared, Izzy."

"Doesn't give him the right to abandon our partners though," Yolei huffed crossly, glowering at Gomamon who shrunk further into Joe if it was possible. "Right Kari?" She turned to see a haunted expression in the girl's eyes. "Kari what is it?"

"Kari?" Tai asked, moving over to his sister's side. "What's wrong?"

* * *

Kari felt as if she were dazed, hearing all this information and seeing Gomamon in this condition. The digimon had lost their qualities - Gatomon had lost her light - what did that mean? She didn't really get it if she was completely honest with herself. Had her partner turned evil? Was that why her crest had tried to strangle her earlier because her light had been corrupted? Her eyes watered at the thought as she desperately hoped she was simply assuming what she was.

"My Crest..." Kari finally muttered. "It didn't only fade away...it tried to strangle me when I wanted to wear it as a necklace like I usually do."

"What?" Tai looked puzzled and worried. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"The marks on your neck," TK observed looking into his best friend's eyes. "They're from your crest aren't they?"

Kari nodded. "I told Davis about it...because I thought I might have lost my light but he reassured me that this wasn't the case. But if Gatomon's gone dark then..." She hung her head, she didn't even want to imagine it because it was too painful to think about.

"Let's not assume okay?" Yolei quickly cut in, squeezing her best friend's shoulder. "Izzy, we need to find a way into the digital world, as soon as you can so get a move on!"

Izzy glowered at her. "I'm doing the best I can, Yolei!"

"Well try harder!" Yolei snapped and Kari could tell her best friend was getting anxious because she tended to start shouting at people when she was under stress.

"Yolei," Kari said gently. "That's not helping. Let's let Izzy focus?" She averted her gaze to the ground, wrapping her arms around her body. She knew Gatomon had suffered a lot when she was with Myotismon but what could make her want to turn to that side.

Tai wrapped a supportive arm around Kari's shoulder and she buried her head in his shoulder, trying to keep her emotions under check. Breaking down would help no one right now.

"Izzy please do your best," Davis said firmly. "If Gatomon's turned dark, our first priority is bringing her back to being one of us. I don't want to lose her like we almost lost Kari and Ken." He gave his best friend a soft smile but Ken didn't respond in kind and was looking down at the floor, seemingly lost in thought.

"Davis…" Kari mumbled looking up, her eyes watering a little at the determination in his eyes – one of the things she admired about her friend. No matter how tough things seemed, he always found a way to see the silver lining, he always had hope.

"Davis is right," TK agreed quickly. "Gatomon's been through enough in the first adventure and she doesn't deserve to suffer anymore. We'll save her, Kari."

Kari gave her male best friend a watery smile and nodded. She would try to believe in that even though she didn't know what to do right now other than try and reach her best friend.

"You can do this, Izzy," Tai said softly. "We all believe in you."

Izzy looked at all of them and smiled. "I'll do my best to get us to the digital world but we need a plan for when we do get there. No offence but I don't think Gomamon's in the best shape to protect us all."

"I'll do my best," Gomamon said. "If you guys still want me to…I mean…I abandoned the others to try and get to Joe. I'm strong like Agumon or Gabumon or smart like Tentomon. I'd have been useless to try and help the others."

"Of course we still want you to," Joe said gently, cuddling his partner close. "You were scared, Gomamon. No one can blame you for that."

"He's right," Kari said quietly, having managed to compose herself enough to talk. "I'm glad you were able to come here Gomamon. It gives us a way to get to the digital world."

Gomamon managed a small smile. "Thanks you guys."

* * *

Ken listened to everyone talk although he was only half listening. Yes, he was worried about Kari and Gatomon, but his thoughts drifted to Wormmon. His digimon had already suffered a lot due to him being the Digimon Emperor and the last thing he wanted was for him to suffer even more.

"Ken," Davis cut into his thoughts. "You're thinking too much. If I promised Kari we'll get Gatomon, we're going to find Wormmon too."

Ken hung his head. "But what if he's hurt or worse? I don't want anything to happen to him, Davis."

Yolei placed a hand on Ken's shoulder, causing him to flush a bit at her closeness. "Wormmon believed in you when no one else would. I think right now you need to believe he can handle himself until you find him. Even if he's hurt, you need to show him that you won't give up on him."

Ken found himself looking into Yolei's eyes. They had a confidence in them as well as a flicker of hesitance. He could tell – she was afraid too because of what had happened and because of Gomamon's condition, but she was trying to think the best of the situation she was given to work with. So was Davis – who normally never gave up anyway but right now, he could tell his best friend was worried about Kari.

"I won't," Ken promised softly. "I'll save him with all I have. After all, we need to believe in miracles right?" He smiled at Yolei, then at his best friend both of whom returned it in kind.

"You need to have courage to believe a miracle will occur," Davis said, shrugging with a small smile and as he said these words, something in Gomamon's paws began to glow brightly causing the little digimon to open his paw and what looked like a yellow crest floated over to Davis.

"The symbol of Miracles…" Ken breathed out.

"Davis has the Crest of Miracles," Izzy mused to himself. "It makes sense though. The portals were closed so in a sense this crest bringing Gomamon here is a miracle."

"It's perfect for Davis," Kari said with a small laugh. "Given the battle with MaloMyotismon and all, it's really not a surprise."

Ken chuckled a bit as well, watching his best friend flush and look away at the compliment. He knew Davis still had a soft spot for Kari no matter how much he pretended that he had moved on. She could still bring a smile to his face no matter how dark or dim the situation was. However, he quickly refocused on the situation. "Then can a miracle take us back to the digital world?"

"If you wish hard enough for it," Gomamon said softly. "Although, do you guys still keep in touch with Noriko Kawada? Noriko's partner Lunamon has been helping us out as much as she can so it would only be right if Noriko came with us and all."

Kari thought about this and nodded. "I'll call her. She'll be really happy to know that Punimon digivolved." She called her friend and after talking for a few moments, she hung up. "She'll meet us here in a few minutes. All we can really do is wait right now. Gomamon, can you tell us a little bit about our new enemy?"

Gomamon's eyes darkened. "I'm not sure if it's a he or she or if it's even human or digimon but he makes the Digimon Emperor look like a sweet kitten. He knows exactly the pain he's causing and he enjoys it. He treats every digimon as his toy and…it's been rumored that he wants to use Omnimon and Imperialdramon to take over the digital world."

Ken felt his heart sink. He hadn't known what he was doing at the time but someone who enjoyed the pain he was causing whilst knowing he was hurting living creatures made him feel physically sick inside. "Why…if he knows what he's doing is wrong then why?"

"He doesn't find it wrong," Gomamon muttered. "Sorry Tai…you told us at the end of the first adventure not to let anyone push us around…we couldn't really keep that promise."

Tai shook his head, his own heart racing. "No…it's not your fault. Have Agumon and Gabumon been captured?" He didn't know what he would do if Agumon became a slave again. He didn't deserve that. He wouldn't let it happen no matter what. He felt his sister squeeze his hand and Mimi reach out to take his other one. He squeezed both girl's hands back, although his heart skipped a beat when Mimi took his hand. Although he had been confident in his flirting earlier, he still didn't know how he felt for his 'Princess' as he had nicknamed her in the first adventure.

"I'm not sure," Gomamon admitted. "I dove into the water and swam deep enough so The Hollow's minions wouldn't see me."

"We have to get there," Matt said, gritting his teeth. "When is Noriko going to get here anyway?" He knew he was being impatient but he couldn't help it! Gabumon was under threat and he was just sitting here, playing a waiting game.

"Matt, calm down," Sora said quietly, leaning her head against Matt's shoulder. "I promise we'll get to him and to Biyomon."

Matt's eyes met with those of his girlfriend's and he hung his head. He could see the fear in her eyes for Biyomon. "I know Sora but…" He trailed off as TK moved to his side.

"Have hope, Matt," TK assured his brother. "I know that's easier said than done right now but we need to be strong for our partners." As he said that, he felt his heart sink in thought of Patamon. His Crest had died but he honestly couldn't imagine Patamon losing hope no matter how tough the situation was. Even when Devimon had tried to kill him, Patamon risked his life, believing he could digivolve when it came to protecting him.

Matt managed a smile at his little brother. "You too then ok? Don't give up on Patamon just yet."

TK nodded. "Yeah…I'll never give up on him!"

Kari smiled sweetly at TK. "Don't worry, we'll save him TK. I promise we'll save everyone." She reached out, grasping TK's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

TK tried to keep a poker face even as his heart thudded at her touch and returned the gesture. "Yeah, we will. Starting with Gatomon."

Davis couldn't help but feel his own heart sink only slightly when he learnt that Veemon was on the hit list…well Imperialdramon was anyway. He knew he had just gotten the Crest of Miracles so he shouldn't be too worried but he couldn't help it. He didn't know if he could keep believing if anything ended up happening to Veemon. His gaze drifted to the other members of the younger team. Yolei was tapping her foot, a habit of hers when she was nervous or scared. Cody was too quiet for his own good although his face was pale. TK…he couldn't really tell what he was thinking but he could tell he was concerned about the whole situation too not that he could blame the other.

Ken looked terrified and Davis could tell exactly what his best friend was thinking. He had lost Wormmon once and the thought of losing him again was not one he wanted to bear. _I can't let them be separated again._ Kari was smiling but her smile didn't reach her eyes and he knew, like always she was putting herself last and trying to assure her male best friend and whatever else he was to her. At that moment, he knew. He knew he had to push his fears aside and be strong for everyone but Kari and Ken especially because they needed him to be because they weren't good at being strong for themselves. His eyes met with Yolei's and she seemed to have reached the same conclusion in regards to Ken. He nodded at her silently knowing she cared about Ken more than she let on.

Yolei met Davis's eye and quickly looked away. She would help Ken as much as she could and she also hoped she'd be strong enough to help Kari and Hawkmon as well. Gatomon had become as much of a partner to her as she was to Kari due to the DNA digivolution and she really hoped they could reach her. No, she would reach her best friend's partner and help her own as well. _I really hope Noriko gets here soon…_

Mimi was worried about Palmon but at the moment, she was more worried about Tai and Agumon because while Gomamon had said all their digimon were a target, the main ones were Omnimon and Imperialdramon. It didn't matter what her feelings for Tai were – he was her friend, first and foremost and like hell would she let the two friends be torn apart by a creep who thought he could rule the world. "We're going to save him. We're going to save them all." Just as she said that, Noriko finally rushed over.

"I'm so sorry!" Noriko said hurriedly. "I got here as quick as I could." She had been submitting a draft of her assignment to be honest and as soon as Kari had told her, that her Punimon had digivolved to Lunamon, excitement surged through her. Of course, that excitement was quickly drowned out by the fact that the digital world was in danger. She had been hesitant to come help at first but when she realized that Lunamon had been helping the others, it almost felt a duty to help the DigiDestined as well.

"It's alright, Noriko," Kari said kindly. "Are you ready to go?"

Ready? No way was she ready to engage in battles. She wasn't a fighter. She was weak compared to them and had never even fought in a single battle. However, seeing the anxiety on all of their faces, she chose not to voice that and simply nodded. Hopefully, if she went, she'd form a bond with Lunamon that was similar to how Kari was with Gatomon. After the battle with MaloMyotismon seven years ago, the dark-haired brunette still had trouble making friends. Now being at University and being friends with Kari did make it a bit better, but she still had no idea how to act around everyone. She stood next to Kari as everyone seemed to be almost wishing for something.

An object in Davis's hand began to glow brightly filling the park they were in and Izzy's laptop responded to that. Before Noriko could even wonder what was going on, their surroundings began to disappear and she felt an odd feeling as if she were being sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Everyone spun and nausea rose up her own throat which she pushed down and suddenly as it began, everything stopped spinning as she hit solid ground. She groaned at her landing, standing up and her eyes widened. Of course she didn't know what the digital world looked like before, but right now it looked like a picture out of a garbage bin with dirt flying everywhere and digimon data of deleted digimon flickering in the air. And she got the distinct feeling it wasn't supposed to be this way. However, ignoring that feeling momentarily, she turned to Kari who was the closest to her at that precise moment.

"Where do we go from here?" The dark-haired girl asked her friend.

"The only place we can go, forward," It was Tai who answered, not Kari. Thus, the group began walking although did not come across any familiar landmarks. There were no trees, no greenery, even the river had dried up. This was not the digital world they had once known.

"There is no place to go, Tai," Matt said frowning when he realized they weren't getting anywhere.

"I'm not sure what else to do," Tai admitted with a shrug. "Unless Gomamon can guide us somehow?"

"I haven't been to this area," Gomamon admitted, shrugging apologetically himself.

"Of course you haven't," An all-too familiar voice said and Kari tensed as they came face to face with Gatomon who had a look in her eyes that was completely cold. She stood there, gazing at them all as if they were insolent creatures who had stepped into her territory. She was standing in front of a small rock on which Patamon lay.

"Gatomon…" Kari murmured, taking a step towards her partner. "It's me, Kari. What's happened to you?"

"I know you are Kari," Gatomon snapped coldly. "Nothing's happened to me. I just did what I had to survive." Not that Kari would understand, she had always been coddled by her brother or by her parents other than the time that she almost died as a child. She wouldn't understand what it was like to be alone and helpless. To be betrayed by those you once trusted. To be broken and remade. As she saw TK make to step towards Patamon, she hissed. "Stay away!"

"But Patamon…" TK began to protest and Gatomon's eyes narrowed.

"Don't come near him," Gatomon's voice contained warning. She didn't want to attack these people no matter how big of failures they were but she had made a vow to protect Patamon because he was too pathetic to protect himself against the evils of this world. "Or I may be forced to hurt you."

"Would you?" Kari asked softly, looking at Gatomon.

Gatomon shrugged. "If I have to, I will. Go home Kari."

"We didn't come here to go home!" Davis snapped, stepping besides Kari and taking her hand into his own since the Chosen of Light looked ready to burst into tears from seeing Gatomon like this. TK took her other hand, both to keep himself back from reaching Patamon and getting himself scratched by an overprotective Gatomon and to comfort the girl he loved. He didn't speak though but his expression said he was thinking the same as Davis.

"You've come here to be disappointed," Gatomon said flatly, before glancing at Izzy. "I suppose now that you're here you're expecting Gennai to guide you."

Izzy looked flabbergasted. "Is there something wrong with that, Gatomon?"

"Gennai's joined up with The Hollow," Gatomon informed them tonelessly. Her face remained blank even as they gasped and looked shocked. "He tried to kill me and Patamon or at least maim us enough to take us prisoner for The Hollow."

TK bristled at that and Kari flinched but Gatomon didn't look at either of them, simply turned back to the rock and picked Patamon in her arms.

"Patamon needs my protection," Gatomon said simply. "Stay away from him and stay away from me." With that, she moved so fast that she became only a speck as she disappeared. As she ran, a twinge of guilt filled inside her but she pushed it aside. _If Gennai can betray us all, Kari and the others can betray me too. And forget me, Patamon isn't in a well enough condition to be betrayed right now. Another betrayal and he'll be pieces of digital data._


	4. Chapter 4

Hello there! Okay so seeing as this project is my main inspiration and actually has follows compared to my other one which has 0 reviews or followers – I decided to continue with this. Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed this story. I appreciate it loads.

* * *

 **Chapter 04: Mixed Feelings**

Kari sunk to her knees as Gatomon disappeared. Her words cut through like knives and for a moment, she felt as if she had no strength. Gatomon had turned back to the path of darkness…no wonder her crest had gotten so dark. There was not a shred of light left in Gatomon right now…it had been covered in the darkness of betrayal and she felt a loss of what she could do.

"G-Gatomon…" Kari whimpered, feeling useless.

"Kari," TK moved to her side, wrapping a comforting arm around her and pulling her into a hug. "She's going to be okay. We'll get her. You need to be stronger, Kari. You can't break down right now."

Kari's eyes watered at that. TK had said that to her once before – that she didn't always need to be relying on her brother but she needed him. She was good at taking care of the others, she was good at being reassuring but she didn't know what to do when it came to her own needs. She wasn't sure how to explain this to him so she was glad when Davis and Yolei came to her rescue.

"TK, she's scared and needs support right now," Yolei said pulling Kari away from TK and the brunette immediately latched onto her DNA partner, burying her face into the other girl's shoulder as Davis took her hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't know what to do," Kari mumbled so only Yolei and Davis could hear. "I know I should be stronger but I don't know how. I was never as strong as Tai was."

"That's not true Kari," Yolei whispered. "You don't have to do anything alone. Alone, even Tai would fail – that's why we're all in this together. I told you I'll always be here even when you push me away. You're strong Kari but you're strong because you have us. TK means well too – he's just bad at wording it but you know boys. They never know how to say the right thing at the right time."

"Hey!" Both Davis and TK protested, causing Kari to let out a weak giggle despite the situation.

"I'm sorry Kari," TK said softly. "I was just trying to help. I think Matt's a bad influence on my bluntness."

"Oi, watch it," Matt huffed as Kari shook her head.

"It's alright," Kari murmured quietly. She wasn't angry at him – she knew everyone saw things differently, she just wished TK understood that she didn't think the same way he did. However, she could never hold a grudge – especially not against one of her friends over something so trivial so she attempted to give him a smile, although it was weak because she was still worried about Gatomon. She didn't really want to pull away from Yolei even as Davis squeezed her hand again.

"It'll be okay Kari," Davis said confidently. "We didn't come here to give up and we'll help all the digimon!"

"How are you so sure?" Kari murmured, lifting her head slightly to meet Davis's eyes and he smiled.

"Because I believe in us," Davis said softly. "Besides, having you around gives me courage. Remember when Flamedramon first armor-digivolved? I was scared out of my mind at the time – I was in another world, I had a partner who kept on saying stuff that made no sense and a freaky digimon was attacking us – no offence Ken but when you got hurt, I pushed everything else out of my mind and just wanted to protect you. I gathered my courage at that time to save you and even today, you give me courage Kari."

Despite the dark situation, Kari's heart fluttered at those words. She had never considered herself much useful other than encouraging the others and giving it her all but hearing Davis say that she was the reason he gathered his courage made her feel special. Her cheeks darkened and she wondered what this odd feeling was that she was getting in her chest. Davis didn't mind protecting her when she felt weak and didn't tell her she needed to stop relying on her brother or anyone – he was willing to always be there for her.

"Thank you Davis," Kari said quietly. "We need to go after Gatomon and Patamon." She looked to her brother who nodded.

"That's for sure," Tai said reaching out and tousling his sister's hair. "But where do we even start? The digital world is a mess."

"No kidding," Mimi said huffing a bit. "I swear, what creep would be so cruel as to throw the digimon around like this? It's just wrong."

"Worse – why did Gennai betray us?" TK said looking away from Kari to his brother. "He tried to kill Patamon and Gatomon."

"I can't figure that out either," Matt admitted, frowning a small bit. "It's not like him to do that considering how much he's guided us through our adventures and all."

"Maybe this enemy strikes that sort of terror?" Izzy mused, having sat down in the place and was working on his laptop. "That he managed to get Gennai to surrender?"

"Surrender is one thing," Kari said quietly. "He's the reason Gatomon is like this. Is there any good enough reason that could justify him doing this?" She wanted to find reason for Gennai betraying them but she simply couldn't. Not when it made Gatomon hurt enough to lash out at them.

* * *

"Oh Kari…" TK knew as always Kari was trying to find the best reason on why Gatomon would do something like that but couldn't seem to and honestly, he really didn't blame her for that. It had forced Gatomon to go back to her ruthless side that she had when she worked for Myotismon. He wished there was more he could do for the girl he loved more than anything but what? Even now, she relied on Tai too much and he understood that.

 _After all, wasn't I like that once too?_ In the first adventure, he had been way too reliant on Matt until he was forced to rely on himself in order to survive. He knew he could come on harsh when it came to Kari's dependency but he wanted her to be prepared for a time when Tai wouldn't be able to be there. But Yolei had a point too – and he agreed with that, Kari didn't have to do anything alone but she did need to learn to depend on herself a little more because a time may come when she couldn't depend on them. Like it had with him. Why didn't Davis see that? Why didn't Yolei see that? Or they saw it but they just had hope that they'd always be there to protect her or help her through their hardest times – that was naivety.

"Don't worry so much, TK," Matt cut through TK's thoughts as if guessing what he was thinking. "Kari's strong because she has her friends – besides don't you want to protect her too?"

"I'll always be there to protect her when I can be," TK admitted. "But the digital world and it's enemies are unpredictable, we know that, Matt. She needs to know how to take care of herself too. I…" He blushed a bit. "I love her and would hate for anything to happen to her." He hadn't really admitted that to anyone but since this conversation was limited to himself and his brother, he didn't think it mattered because Matt could keep a secret especially one that threatened one of his most precious friendships.

"I know that," Matt said quietly. "I think she knows you mean well TK but Kari's different to you. You need to understand that she doesn't think the way you do."

TK sighed. "I know that Matt…I know I can be blunt sometimes but I only do it because I care about her."

Matt reached out, squeezing TK's shoulder gently. "I understand. Just be careful ok TK? I don't want you to get hurt."

TK nodded. He knew what Matt meant by that – he knew his feelings for Kari were strong but that Davis also had feelings for their mutual friend and that made things complicated. He knew Kari most probably didn't return those feelings that Davis held but he didn't know about himself either. What if she didn't like him either? It wasn't worth ruining his friendship with Davis anyhow. He was content with remaining Kari's good friend until then.

"I'll be alright Matt," TK assured his older brother. "Kari's my friend before anything else and Davis is important to me too. I would never hurt either of them. But Patamon…"

Matt sighed. "It's going to be hard to convince Gatomon to give him back but we have no other options but to try."

"We can't give up on Gatomon either!" TK said firmly. "I won't let evil separate Gatomon and Kari from each other again…it's not fair on her and it's definitely not fair on Kari." He wouldn't let another person lose their digimon partner. If things were so bad in the digital world, Gatomon was simply the beginning. Things were bleak right now but he had to believe they wouldn't stay this way.

* * *

Davis hated the silence but he knew no one was really in the mood for talking and to be honest, he didn't really blame them. Seeing Gatomon that way, hearing about Gennai's betrayal, all of it was much too hard to forget but still they had to stay positive. He knew it affected Kari the worst though seeing her digimon so dark and he wished he could just hold her and take her away from all the dangers that plagued her. He still remembered back then when they were nine years old and she had reached out her hand of friendship to him when other kids were bullying him.

 _Davis coughed as he was pushed to the ground roughly against some bigger kids. He had just been kicking a soccer ball around when a few kids from his school came, shoving him to the ground. Tears prickled at his eyes but he refused to cry – he was nine, after all!_

" _Awww did that hurt?" Takuma mocked. "I was just using you as the soccer ball instead."_

" _Leave me alone," Davis said shakily. "I just want to play as well."_

" _You're not good enough to play soccer with us," Takuma said, kicking him in the head causing him to stumble to the ground._

' _Why am I not good enough? Why won't they be my friends?' Davis thought. He didn't understand. His head was throbbing as the blood rushed to his head._

" _Leave him alone!" A girl's voice called out and Davis weakly managed to look up to see a girl with short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She looked the same age as him but there was something in her eyes that was fierce and like she didn't fear anything._

" _And just what are you going to do about it girly?" Hiro, another boy mocked._

" _Don't you have anything better to do than bully the poor kid?" The girl said as her eyes flashed. "He just wants to play with you and if you won't play with him, I will."_

 _Another kid wanted to play with him? Davis couldn't believe it – just who was this girl and why was she sticking up for him? She didn't even know him after all._

" _Then maybe we need to teach you a lesson too," Takuma said stepping towards the girl menacingly causing Davis to panic. Oh no – they'd scare this new possible friend of his away as well! But what could he do? He wasn't strong enough to take on Takuma, Hiro and Yutaka because they were much too bigger than him. The girl didn't back down._

" _Are you really that scared?" The girl asked. "My brother says only cowards bully other people. So I'll say it again – leave him alone!"_

" _Whose going to make us?" Hiro challenged._

" _I will," An older boy stepped next to the girl and while he looked unhappy, he also looked as fierce as the girl did. "Kari, is there a problem?"_

 _The girl 'Kari' smiled a bit. "Not much. This little kid just wants to play soccer and these guys are being mean so I said I'd play with him. Will you play with us too Tai?" She smiled._

" _Sure," Tai said with a shrug, grinning before his expression hardened and he looked to the three boys who now looked terrified. "So are you going to leave him alone or do I need to convince you guys?"_

 _The boys did not need to be told twice and they scurried away quickly. Davis was surprised that Kari had done this for him. But why?_

" _Why did you do that?" Davis asked her._

 _Kari smiled. "Because they were being mean to you. You just wanted to play right? I can't kick the ball that well but I want to play with you. I'm Kari but I think you already know that now."_

 _Davis's eyes widened. "Really? You want to play with me?"_

" _Sure!" Kari said with a laugh. "It's what friends do right?"_

 _Davis stared at her before giving her a toothy grin. "Yeah! It is! Thanks Kari! My name's Davis."_

"Davis, daydream later," Tai's voice cut into Davis's thoughts. "What are you thinking about anyway?"

Davis flushed when Tai caught him thinking about the past and looked away. He didn't know what his role model would think if he realized that Davis was in love with his little sister and he didn't want to disappoint the boy he considered like an older brother. "Nothing…"

"Right," Tai remarked dryly. "My sister's tough. She'll be fine."

"Do you agree with TK?" Davis said in a low voice so only Tai could hear him. "That Kari relies too much on you?"

Tai's face morphed into a frown and for a moment, it felt like his mentor wouldn't answer but then he sighed. "Partly. I mean, I'll always be there when she needs me and I know when the time comes, she'll be able to stand up for herself even if it doesn't seem that way now. I know TK means well though – but Kari isn't like him, Davis. Kari…she needs the others to draw strength from. It's not that she can't handle herself when she's alone. It's just she's stronger when she's with me, with us. She draws her strength more from us than from herself. It's just the way she is."

Davis listened to this and nodded because he had similar thoughts about Kari too. Even as a child, she had always put him first including their first meeting. She hadn't been afraid at all that the kids would bully her too because she wanted to help him. _She does always draw strength from others…but what's wrong with that? I wouldn't be half the person I am if I didn't draw strength from Ken, Kari, TK, Yolei and Cody in all our adventures._ He and Kari were similar in that way. Being around the others made them stronger. But that didn't mean they couldn't handle things alone either.

"I agree with you," Davis said softly. "Kari is strong because she has us. We're all strong because we have…" He trailed off as they caught sight of a Bearmon and a slime like digimon with a green tail, he didn't recall seeing before, shivering behind a rock. "Hey it's okay, we're friendly!" He moved forward, trying to give a reassuring smile to the obviously scared digimon.

Bearmon finally looked up, his eyes morphing into relief. "Popomon! It's okay, it's the DigiDestined!"

Popomon still didn't look up. "But they're alone…The Hollow still has their digimon."

Davis tensed a bit when Popomon mentioned that The Hollow had their digimon. He hoped that it was just a rumour because the more he heard about this Hollow creep but why did he have the feeling it was true? Before he could say much though, Tai had stepped forward.

"Hey, I know you guys are scared," Tai said encouragingly. "But do you know where our digimon could be?"

Bearmon nodded. "I saw Agumon and Biyomon being taken into The Hollow's headquarters. It's not that far from here but it is a bit of a walk."

"This world sure loves it's walking!" Yolei cried exasperated. "But shouldn't we try and help Gatomon first? I mean, she's the one whose in the most immediate need of assistance and all."

Tai glanced at Kari anxiously. "We may need Agumon's help to get through to Gatomon." That was kind of true. "I mean…Gatomon is a champion level and we'll need all the help we can get." He moved over, pulling Kari into an embrace.

"It's ok Tai," Kari said with a small smile. "I want Gatomon back but I know having the others help us will let us get her back sooner." Her eyes watered and she buried her head in her older brother's chest. "We will get her back though…right?"

Tai could feel his sister close to tears and squeezed her gently. "Of course we will. Gatomon spent so much time searching for you and you brought her back to the light because you gave her hope. You and Wizardmon gave her life meaning…now we need to bring her back to the light again, not only for you but for Wizardmon too."

"I'm scared, Tai," Kari said sounding like a little girl again. TK looked like he was about to say something to this but Tai silenced him with a look.

"I know," Tai said softly stroking his sister's hair gently. "I'm scared too. The more I hear about This Hollow and Gennai's betrayal, I'm really scared for Agumon. But you know…I'm sure they were scared too. When our adventures started, I think our digimon must have been scared too, not knowing what they were up against and especially when they had to fight and stay in our world to protect it. I'm sure they were scared as well, Kari. But they stayed strong for us…they knew we would look out for them since they were in another world. Now, they need us and even though, it's scary…shouldn't we try and do the same for them?"

Kari looked up at Tai and managed a weak smile, nodding a bit. "You're right, Tai. We have to be strong for them." Her expression became firm. "I'll keep fighting even though I'm scared."

"And you don't have to do it alone," Davis added. "We'll all fight together!"

"We're a team, after all," Yolei reached out, squeezing Kari's shoulder gently.

Ken smiled softly. "Yeah, don't worry about anything, Kari. We're all in this together."

Cody looked more solemn than the others but he nodded as well. "We have to do our best for our digimon, like they've always done for us."

TK clenched his fist and nodded his head as well. "Yeah, you can't give up hope Kari no matter how bleak things seem right now."

Kari looked at her friends, smiling at them. "Thanks guys."

"Now that that's settled," Mimi put in cheerfully, clearly trying to cheer everyone up. "Why don't we get these guys to lead us to the headquarters?"

"Isn't that dangerous?" Joe cut in. "There are probably guards there and rushing in would be reckless. We might get captured ourselves and then we'd need someone to rescue us."

"It's better than sitting here!" Mimi retorted. "What are we going to gain by just walking around? Besides, you can have Gomamon digivolve if we get into a real knot! We need to help Agumon and the others."

"Rushing in without a plan may not be the best idea though," Joe countered. "Plus Gomamon is still injured so putting that much pressure on him isn't right. I think we should try and find some allies first."

"Do we honestly have the time for that?" Mimi said frowning. "Joe, you're too paranoid. We'll be fine!"

"Will you two cut it out?" Sora interjected stepping between the two bickering adults and sighed. "Honestly…you two can be as bad as Tai and Matt sometimes you know. Tai, what do we do?"

Tai put a hand to his chin, thinking about it. "I think Joe has a point – we should be careful." He raised his hands in defence as Mimi glowered at him, ready to protest. "Calm down Mimi! I didn't say that meant we shouldn't go. But maybe we should split up into two teams instead of one. Joe, since you have Gomamon, you can come with me. Kari, you stick with me as well ok? Since there are thirteen of us, let's have a six-seven split ok. Kari, Joe, Mimi, Sora, Izzy and Matt you guys stay with me ok? Davis, you, Ken, TK, Noriko, Yolei and Cody search for the other digimon ok? Once we're out, we'll meet you guys back here ok?" He had arranged in a way so both teams had a leading charge and second in command as they were more successful that way.

Everyone nodded in agreement at this. Tai sighed in relief, glad Joe and Mimi had stopped arguing. He had never known the two to bicker but he supposed their personalities were pretty different so it was bound to happen sooner or later. He squeezed Kari's hand as she stepped beside him and his eyes locked with Davis's. "Be careful, you guys."

* * *

Patamon was feeling a bit better. Not enough to begin flying again but enough to realise what had happened. He had been half-way conscious when Gatomon had grabbed him and taken off when TK was trying to reach him. He wished she hadn't because he had been looking forward to seeing TK again. However as he saw his feline friend sitting on a rock, he knew she wasn't really acting like herself.

"Gatomon," Patamon coughed out. "Do you really think that was the right thing to do?"

Gatomon's cold eyes pierced through Patamon's very soul almost causing the little hamster to shiver. "I was protecting you. You're not well."

"I appreciate that," Patamon admitted. "But TK and Kari are our friends, Gatomon…they'd never betray us like Gennai did."

"How do you know?" Gatomon said, her tone not changing. "Did you think Gennai would betray us?"

Patamon shook his head. He hadn't thought Gennai would ever betray them but… "Gennai was our guide! TK and Kari are our best friends! Gatomon…Kari would hate seeing you like this." His own voice cracked. "I hate seeing you like this."

Gatomon averted her gaze. "If you no longer need my protection, you can leave. I won't stop you. Go back to TK. I'm not going back though. I'm better off alone. I always have been."

"That's not true!" Patamon protested, his eyes becoming firm and a bit more focused at her words. "You're not better off alone Gatomon. You need us. You need Kari." He wasn't going to leave her alone. Especially not now. Yes, he wanted to see TK again because he missed his best friend but if he abandoned Gatomon right now, she might turn to darkness for comfort even more. He was going to be there for her because right now she needed someone.

"I don't need you," Gatomon retorted coldly. "I don't need anyone."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Patamon said stubbornly. "Are you going to attack me for that?" Silence. He knew Gatomon wouldn't attack because she wouldn't have protected him if she wanted him gone. She was just scared and he would help her through her fears because that was what friends did. He tried to fly over to Gatomon's side but cringed as a sharp pain ran down his wings and he collapsed. "God dangit…"

Gatomon sighed and if she was her normal self, she might have thought it was a fond sigh but the look in her eyes didn't match that. "Stop trying to move around. I'm fine. And suit yourself if you want to stay."

Patamon silently curled back around himself although made a promise to help the others bring Gatomon back to the light. He would not let Gatomon's searching be in vain. He wouldn't let Wizardmon's sacrifice to unite Kari and Gatomon be in vain either. _TK I'm sorry. I'll come find you soon so please wait for me ok? Gatomon needs me right now and please…bring Kari here. Gatomon needs her more than ever._


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, I love you guys so much for the wonderful reviews you give. I had a person ask me why isn't TK fighting harder for Kari? Because Davis and TK both respect Kari's feelings and that she has a right to choose who she wants to be with. Plus, these guys saved the world together! They're not going to hurt one another over a love triangle. Also, me reading fanfics is put to a halt due to Nano but expect regular updates since I'll be writing the whole month.

* * *

 **Chapter 05: The Call of Darkness**

Sora bit her lower lip as they approached closer to Headquarters and she didn't like it. It felt as if they were walking into a trap but she was relieved that it wasn't all of them at least. It wasn't much but it did make her feel somewhat at ease. As they entered through a back door, it sent chills down her spine as her eyes travelled to see a dungeon with multiple cells. In all honesty, she felt as if they had entered a Police station where the digimon were the criminals and locked inside cells. But she knew that wasn't the case. These digimon were innocent and captured by a creature who sounded more and more like a monster the more she heard about him.

Her heart trembled for them but she knew that they had to be careful. Not that this plan worked out because as soon as they entered the next room, they were surrounded by digimon. Some of them like Kuwagamon and Snimon she recognized from their first adventure but some were unknown to her. Her head began throbbing suddenly, vision beginning to blur. What was going on? Her chest tightened and for a moment, she felt she'd pass out. Was it the darkness? Her hazy thoughts drifted back to the Cave of Darkness in the first adventure, trying to breathe normally. She could hear Tai screaming out Kari's name but her vision was becoming blurrier by the minute when a hand grasped hers.

"Sora," Matt said, voice sounding shaky. "I know it's hard but you have to resist."

Resist? Resist what? The pull of darkness? But it was so strong, she didn't know what to do. "I-I'm trying." She felt herself being pulled closer and buried her head in Matt's chest. She could his hear his heart beating and his presence comforted her. Being this close to her made her fears go away.

"I know this is scary," Matt said again. "I'm scared too. The darkness in here is too strong like back then. But we have each other and neither of us will fail our friends. Not this time. We have each other after all…right?" He was both trying to be reassuring and seeking her reassurance in return. That gave Sora more strength than she could ever imagine having. It was dark and cold but they had each other at least. She could feel her boyfriend trembling slightly and her heart swelled at how strong his heart was – to be there for her when he was scared himself.

"We…we'll never fail them," Sora managed to get out, having to reach up only slightly because Matt was taller than her as she gently pressed her lips to those of her boyfriend's. She knew Tai would probably say now wasn't the time but the best way to get rid of the darkness was to focus on the light. And Matt was her light. He was the light that would guide her out of the darkness like he had in the first adventure. Running her fingers through his hair, she focused on the gentle thumping of his heartbeat.

 _I'll be your light too, Matt. I'll save you from the darkness, just as you do for me. We'll always be in this together._ Somehow, it was as if these thoughts were creating a shield from the darkness because all the redhead could remember was the feeling of Matt's soft lips meshing with hers. It was like the darkness was non-existent in their own little world, a world she never wanted to leave in. Even as they pulled apart and Sora cuddled against her boyfriend's chest, she knew somehow things would be okay again.

* * *

Things were not going well and that was an understatement to be honest because whilst the place they were in was quiet – almost too much for Tai's comfort, it still felt as if they were walking into a trap and he understood why Joe had been so paranoid at the time. However, he agreed with Mimi too – doing something was better than just staying in one place and doing nothing especially when their digimon needed help but he wasn't sure anymore whether this had been the right decision to make.

His gut feeling was proven right when they were surrounded by Snimon, Kuwagumon and others he didn't recall. As Gomamon digivolved to Ikkakumon, he tried to work out a plan but before he could, his little sister had begun screaming and he spun around to see her sink into the ground. Pushing any panic out of his mind, he hurried forward towards her along with Mimi since Matt and Sora seemed to be affected by the darkness as well.

"Kari!" Tai cried, grasping her by the shoulders. "Hang in there, Kari. I know the darkness is scary, I know you feel like it's swallowing you but you're not alone in this. TK told you to get stronger. Davis and Yolei told you that you could lean on them for support. Kari, you don't have to be strong alone. All of us…we're strong because we have each other." He couldn't lose her. He had always protected her and he had to find a way to bring her out of this situation but he wasn't sure how he could do that when she looked so scared and the darkness in here was making even him feel on edge. It was like the time he had made Agumon become SkullGreymon…only worse somehow. He wasn't sure how to explain it but his heart began to sink as he saw Kari flicker before returning.

Kari shivered. "I'm not like you Tai. The darkness is too strong for me. I can't be strong like TK wants me to be either…the darkness will swallow me whole. Mimi…take care of Tai ok? If I don't come back."

"Don't say that!" Tai said desperately struggling as Mimi pulled him back, stepping forward herself. Her eyes flickered everywhere and her hair which was all over the place right now even seemed to be cackling with a fiery determination that made her the beautiful brunette almost glow. If the situation was any different, Tai knew would have kissed her for how gorgeous she looked when she was passionate about something. He would have run his fingers through her hair, pulling her close and kissing tenderly down her neck, making her shiver like he had when she had come to his soccer game. He was snapped out of his daydream when he heard the sound of a sharp whack. He gaped as the girl of his dreams slapped his baby sister and almost made to protest but Mimi began speaking, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Stop saying that!" Mimi's voice shook as she pulled Kari close into a hug. "Kari, you're one of the strongest people I know. You were so strong in the digital world, even when you fell sick. You gave yourself up so Myotismon would stop hurting everyone. You take care of everyone so why do you feel you have to face everything alone? Remember what Davis said? You give him courage. He won't mind if you lean on him for support even when you're scared. If you can be his courage, why can't he be yours?"

Tai wasn't sure what to say. He didn't like the fact that Mimi had slapped his sister but he understood she kind of had no choice even if he didn't entirely agree with it. He stepped forward and took Kari from Mimi's arms, pulling her close to him. "I don't like Mimi slapping you but she's right. You are strong. You're even stronger than me sometimes because I crack under pressure and I would have fallen down if I didn't have Matt and the others to support me. Remember when Piedmon nearly killed us?"

"Not the best memory to remind her," Izzy remarked dryly causing Kari to give a weak giggle but she had stopped flickering at least.

"Trying to make a point here," Tai retorted to his friend before looking at Kari. "I was injured and if Matt, Sora, Joe and TK hadn't come, I probably wouldn't have made it. It's okay to rely on others Kari. Draw strength from them. Even when we're not there with you physically, all of us will be with you in spirit. There will be times when you have to face things alone but you're only alone if you think you are. You have me, Mimi, Sora, Matt, Joe, Izzy, even Gatomon although she doesn't remember that yet. Mimi's right. Davis and Yolei promised you they'd be there for you right? TK came to save you from the Dark Ocean once before – he'd do it again, no matter how much he lectures you on depending too much on me."

"TK considers me a burden," Kari murmured sadly. "He thinks I'm weak cause I can never protect myself. I'm so used to fighting for the others, Tai that I don't know how to fight to defend myself as well. When Davis said I give him courage and implied that I could lean on him for support, when Yolei told me she'd always be there for me, that gave me the strength to keep fighting. I want to take Davis's support, I want Yolei to be there. TK too, he is my best friend but does it really make me a burden?"

Tai sighed, brushing his sister's hair out of his face. Once again, he didn't like how eerie it was in here, how calmly they were able to face their fears without anyone else getting in the way but he couldn't think about that right now. Snimon and Kuwagumon had backed off without giving much of a fight too which was much too suspicious. And he wasn't sure what to say to Kari about TK to be honest. He looked up and his eyes locked with Matt, who had come over with Sora a few minutes ago but the other shook his head. _Well, that was helpful._ He knew Matt thought he wouldn't be able to help in this matter but come on – TK was his brother.

"I don't think TK considers you a burden," Tai admitted honestly. "In our first adventure, he had to learn to save himself and protect you when Piedmon turned us all into keychains. He had to save not only himself, but hope for the best and save everyone else too. It really toughened him up so to speak. Otherwise he was too reliant on his brother as well – except when he couldn't be. Although, he said Matt helped him then too so TK likes to act more independent than he is. He relies on the others just as much as you do but he thinks differently to you. He'll understand Kari. He'll understand that you're different from him. And when he does, you two will remain best friends like you always were." He hoped that was a good enough explanation as he stroked his baby sister's hair but it clearly was considering the flickering stopped and Kari wrapped her own arms around her brother, burying her head into his shoulder blades.

"Thanks Tai," Kari mumbled. "You know, you and Davis always give me similar advice."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying Davis is like a brother to you?"

Kari shook her head, her cheeks reddening. "No! Of course not! Tai, don't be silly. Davis isn't like a brother…"

Tai had no idea what to make of that but felt a surge of protectiveness rising within him. If anyone came near his baby sister. He was about to ask more but the wall to their left blowing to pieces alerted him and suddenly he realized there was a path to another room. As he made to step forward, his breath caught in his throat. There was – what physically looked like a glass coffin with plastic tubes attached to Agumon. There was some sort of green fluid running through those tubes and that made his stomach churn. What on earth was going on here?

"Palmon!" Mimi cried seeing her partner standing next to Arukenimon in her spider form, Dokugumon and an armor digimon who none of them recognized.

"Mimi, I don't think that's Palmon," Tai cautioned her but Mimi shook her head.

"No, it's definitely Palmon," Mimi said firmly. "I can feel it."

'Palmon' definitely looked different from the normal one they usually knew. Her eyes were dimmed and almost cold. She looked up at them with regret. "Forgive me, Mimi, Tai. I had no choice but to join The Hollow. He was too powerful and he wanted Agumon. Orders are orders."

Tai could feel Mimi beginning to tremble beside him but could make no move to comfort her. He was frozen in shock himself at the fact that Palmon was the reason that his partner was trapped in a tubes, looking nothing more than a mere experiment. What was wrong with the digital world? First Gennai had betrayed them and now Palmon…it felt as if all they had done for this world had been for nothing because no one seemed to have any faith that they'd come back to help. Sure, Gennai could have lost faith which he didn't understand but Palmon?! She had helped save the digital world with them, after all.

"How could you?" Tai whispered. "Agumon was your friend. He would have protected you. He would have saved you and you just handed him over on a platter to some creep."

"I'd watch my words if I were you," Another much colder and almost amused voice spoke. "Besides, you should be honored. Omnimon will be one of my favorite action figures to unleash into the digital world – you should feel touched."

Tai bristled in fury. "Let my partner go! He isn't some toy!" He expected some sort of response but what he didn't expect was the ground opening underneath them and for them to fall onto a cold, hard ground. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're alive," Matt muttered before bristling. "But we need to get the digimon! Do you think he has Gabumon too?"

"If he doesn't, he's probably looking for him," Izzy muttered grimly. "Things over here are worse than I imagined and without Gennai's guidance, there's only so much information I can get access to."

"Palmon…" Mimi sunk to her knees, tears running down her cheeks. "Why would she do this? I can understand Gennai losing faith and even other digimon but Palmon lost faith in us? How can this happen? It's not right. She's not being sincere with herself."

"Mimi…" Sora hugged her best friend close. "We'll work things out."

"How?" Tai said frowning at his female best friend. "Palmon still betrayed Agumon. Why should we just forgive her because she's one of us?"

"Tai!" Sora chided him. "You're not helping right now! You're meant to help me reassure."

"How can I after seeing Agumon like that?" Tai snapped.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Matt defended his girlfriend.

"Stop it, you two," Joe interjected before anyone else snapped at one another. "This is a stressful situation and we need to work together, not bite each other's heads off. Tai, I know you're worried about Agumon but whatever happened wasn't Mimi's fault and you know that. You're hurt yes, but think on how Mimi feels seeing her own partner act like that. She's just as scared and worried as you are. Matt, don't get so defensive. Everyone is on edge right now. Let's work out a way together ok?"

Tai hung his head. "Sorry guys…" He wasn't sure what to do right now. He felt Kari wrap her arms around him and for once leaned into his sister's comforting touch, because he was at a loss on how to help Agumon right now. They had always figured things out together but right now Agumon needed more help than when the Emperor had him as a slave because this was much worse. "What do I do Kari? How do I save Agumon?"

"We'll save him together," Kari said gently. "All of us. Together. Lean on us for strength, Tai. Just like we lean on you. I know we can get Agumon back if we put our heads together. We can't give up trying after all."

Tai knew Kari was right – after all, hadn't he been telling her the same thing a few minutes earlier? He had to believe in himself and the others. Yes, they were now captured which did put a damper on things but so what? They had gotten out of tight situations before and they would get out of this. "Alright…Izzy, any ideas?"

"I'm searching for plausible weaknesses in these walls so we may be able to break out," Izzy explained, typing furiously on the computer. "If not, we can always get Ikkakumon to try and break us out but that has a 50-50 chance of working or not but if we can find weaknesses in the walls, we may be able to find a way out."

"And even if we can't," Mimi said as she had managed to stop sniffling enough to talk. "Davis and the others might be able to find their partners and bust us out right?"

"Yes, that is also a possibility," Izzy agreed with her, nodding a small bit.

Tai looked back at Mimi, his heart twisting. Her fiery hair was now drooped with silent tears running down her cheeks as she hung her head. It was as if someone had doused out her spirit and he hated that he was partially responsible for snapping at her. It wasn't her fault what Palmon had done and he knew she was just as shocked as he was that she would turn on them like this. He couldn't stand seeing her like this so he moved towards her and pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, Mimi," Tai said softly. "We're going to work out what's going on and who this creep is turning our friends against us and to his side. He seemed pretty scary to be honest when he spoke earlier so I can see why Gennai would be scared even if his actions are still unforgivable. But we're going to bring Palmon and Gatomon back to the light, I promise. Somehow we will. Let's believe in Davis and the others ok?" As Mimi buried her head in his shoulder blades, his cheeks reddened but he slowly stroked her hair. She had always been one of the more sensitive DigiDestined even in their first adventure and had been deeply affected by the deaths of their friends that died in the digital world. But he'd make sure no one died this time protecting them – they had to avoid more tragedies, they had to win. And for that, the first step was getting their Crests to glow. _Hopefully that will be enough._

* * *

Matt watched as Joe and Kari calmed Tai down and reached out to squeeze Sora's hand. He knew Tai was just frustrated and he didn't blame the other to be honest. This creature seemed not only dangerous but calculated as well. He had managed to get Palmon to hand over Agumon and even though there was no proof that Gabumon had been captured too, he was worried because it wouldn't be long now since The Hollow was targeting Omnimon.

"Will Gomamon really be enough to get us out of here?" Matt asked turning to Joe as Gomamon slept in his arms, tired from not only everything but the last battle as well.

Joe managed a smile. "Gomamon will do his best, Matt. The situation isn't easy but I know he won't give up."

Matt sighed and tried to smile back but found he couldn't and looked down. "I don't get it…we've faced tough enemies before. I mean, Myotismon wasn't exactly a walk in the park especially since he kept coming back and all but even so, we managed to handle him as a team and so did Davis and the others. But right now…we're not really even a team anymore. I mean we are but the digimon…"

Joe frowned before chuckling. "And people call me the pessimistic one. I'm worried too to be honest – since even when we didn't get along in the first adventure, our digimon did and were able to band together most of the times. Do you…do you think we might be able to do the same for them Matt? Help them work as one like they helped us to?"

Matt listened to Joe and thought about it. He was right of course. The digimon had always been better at working together than they had at first but now it seemed as if the roles were reversed. The digimon lacked trust and unity like they had when they were facing the Dark Masters. "I might not have even returned if Gabumon hadn't convinced me that we were all needed and we all had our own place in the team. Now I need to convince him somehow that we're all needed."

"Gabumon's actually useful though," Gomamon murmured sadly having woken up apparently from their talking. "I bet he can take care of himself and everyone else. I was never as strong as the rest of you. All I did was never give up and encourage everyone else to do the same."

"Gomamon, that's not true," Joe protested, looking visibly upset at his partner's words. "You're pretty awesome as Zudomon and you're always there for your friends but you're allowed to be scared too, you know. Besides, all of us, we always work better together after all."

"But I just left everyone to their luck…" Gomamon murmured. "Maybe I could have done something more for them but I didn't know what to do. Everyone kept getting separated."

"You did the right thing, Gomamon," Sora soothed moving over to him. "If you hadn't gotten to Joe when you did, we wouldn't have even known what was happening. I mean, Izzy had just discovered about the faded crests and was trying to find a way back but this way we got an idea of how bad the situation is. But you're here and hopefully Davis and the others will find something. None of us blame you ok? You did the best you could."

"You really think so Sora?" Gomamon said, eyes brightening slightly.

Sora smiled. "I don't think so. I know so. It's like Joe said, we're all stronger together, even if it doesn't seem like it right now. I know working together, we can turn the tide in our favor." She locked eyes with Matt and Matt knew even though his girlfriend was scared, her belief in them was stronger than that fear. His heart swelled with the love he felt for her as it had been one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her in the first place.

Sora didn't always take care of her own needs in her desire to help everyone else but when she did take care of everyone else, she put her all into it. She had given him the courage to believe that he could love and being with her made him feel as if his life's purpose was complete. Her being with him was enough reason for him to believe there was something worth fighting for. And if Gabumon hadn't given him the courage to believe in himself and his friendships in the first adventure, he would have never been able to let some of his walls down, allowing the others to enter his heart, especially Sora. _I owe them both so much for what they've given me. That's why Gabumon…I'm not giving up on you. You're not some tool that can be used for playing around. You're my friend…my best friend and I'll make sure The Hollow knows it too._


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so like I promised: somewhat, speedy updates. I'm glad you all are enjoying this story so much. Also a note, I do try to remain true to canon but I also add my own spin to characters so they don't seem stale and like every other story. I've added my own spin to TK for example as well as Kari.

* * *

 **Chapter 06: Stand My Ground**

Yolei hated long silences. Well, it wasn't really a long silence since Davis kept on talking, trying to encourage the group and cracking the lamest jokes he could come up with but even so, she wished they were making some progress. All this walking around and getting nowhere was frustrating. Plus, she didn't like separating from Kari when she was having so many doubts about herself.

"Why aren't we getting anywhere?" She finally grumbled, being the closest to Ken in proximity right now and crossing her arms, huffing.

Ken's lips twitched in amusement and he smiled. "I'm sure we'll find something soon, Yolei." Just as he said that, they came across a forest and Yolei had to wonder how this place managed to stay in tact when everything else was burnt to a crisp and broken but there might actually be digimon there – better yet, someone who could help them.

"Let's check it out!" Davis said eagerly running forward and Yolei didn't waste a second in running after him, the others not far behind. As they got further inside the forest which in contrast to the outside was lush-green and beautiful as if it had been freshly made, she saw the shadows of something nearby and the purple-haired girl honestly hoped it was someone friendly. It seemed as if luck was on their side this time because the two figures revealed themselves and her brown eyes widened in surprise as Hawkmon shifted forward.

"Yolei?" Hawkmon said, looking shocked himself. "Is that really you?"

"Hawkmon!" Yolei lunged forward hugging her partner tightly, nearly squashing the poor bird. "I'm so glad to see you're alright! With Gennai betraying us and Gatomon going all dark, I was worried something bad had happened to you. Oh Hawkmon!" Her eyes watered.

"Yolei," Hawkmon protested weakly. "I missed you too…but you're squishing me."

Yolei quickly pulled away. "Sorry!" She wiped away the tears that had begun to build in her eyes, laughing a little at her own overreaction. "I just missed you."

Hawkmon laughed as well. "I missed you too, Yolei really. I'm glad you came but things over here…well if Lunamon hadn't saved me, I think I'd be prisoner with the rest of them."

Noriko was looking at Lunamon but seemed unsure of what to say even when her partner moved towards her. "Um hi?"

Lunamon smiled. "Hey Noriko! It's good to see you again. I don't look that different do I?"

"Um well…" Noriko wasn't sure what to say to be honest.

"You were Punimon the last time she saw you so give the girl a break," Yolei said, rolling her eyes at the moon digimon. She was just relieved Hawkmon was okay – of course that didn't change the fact that the other digimon didn't.

"Hawkmon, can you tell us a bit about what's going on?" TK asked. "I mean, we're all glad you're okay but given the condition of this world."

"Lunamon knows a bit more than I do," Hawkmon admitted honestly. "But I was with Veemon and Wormmon. Patamon and Gatomon were with us for awhile too but then when Veemon and Wormmon were captured, we all got separated as well. I ended up a few meters away from this forest and because I was so tired, I tried to find a safe place to rest but I ended up falling sick." He looked at Yolei. "I was missing you. I thought you had abandoned me."

"Why on earth would you think something as silly as that?" Yolei huffed. "Even before Gomamon appeared in the real world, we were trying to find a way back since the older DigiDestined's crests had died and all but if I knew you guys were in trouble, I would have broken through the stupid wall and gotten here as soon as I could."

Hawkmon chuckled. "Yes, Yolei, I get that. Lunamon scolded me for doubting you but I didn't know about Gennai until she told me."

Yolei frowned as Gennai was mentioned again and she had no idea what to think about that. He had been so helpful to them during the World Tour that she didn't understand why he had a change of heart. "I can't believe that either."

"Gennai was so helpful," Davis said, sounding frustrated. "I can't believe he'd turn on us like this."

"I can't think of any possible explanation why he would either," Cody said somberly. "He seemed very helpful in our adventure and so did his counterparts. Have his counterparts gone to the other side as well?"

"It's possible," Ken mused quietly, his handsome features morphed into a puzzling expression. "The only logic I see is Gennai and his counterparts lost faith that we would ever come."

"And that's reason enough for them to turn our digimon's lives into hell?" Davis said angrily. "I don't care what logic they abide by, they're a bunch of cowards! All of them!"

"No kidding," TK agreed with Davis. "We need to find Veemon and Wormmon before anyone else though because what if this enemy targets Imperialdramon?"

Yolei winced, her heart catching in her throat. She didn't know who this enemy was but Imperialdramon on the wrong side could be deadly for them. "Would The Hollow really do that?"

"The Hollow is known for taking the most powerful digimon as his slaves," Lunamon admitted, looking down sadly. "I should feel relieved that it doesn't consider me powerful enough but I wish there was more I could do."

"I'm sure if you and Noriko work together, you guys can make a difference," TK encouraged Lunamon. "Don't give up ok?"

"I'm not really sure what I can do though," Noriko said quietly, looking down. "I'm nowhere near as experienced as you guys are, even though I want to help. After all, it's because of the digital world that I got Lunamon in the first place but I hope I don't fail."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Davis said, smiling a bit now. "After all, none of us were born an experienced DigiDestined besides there must be a reason you were allowed to come with us right?"

Noriko nodded. "Yeah – I suppose so."

"Hawkmon, are you and Lunamon ok to come with us?" Ken asked gently. "I mean, we still need to look for the other digimon as well. Tai and the others are attempting to rescue some of the imprisoned digimon."

"I have recovered from my cold," Hawkmon admitted, nodding. "I'm not sure how much Lunamon and I could do alone so it is best to find the others."

"I really hope Armadillomon's alright," Cody said sighing. "I'd hate it if something happened to him."

"I'm sure he's fine, Cody," Yolei assured her childhood friend though she could understand. Until she had seen Hawkmon was okay with her own eyes, she hadn't been able to be at ease. And…for Ken, it was probably worse. She knew he wasn't as open about his emotions as she was and that made her even more worried for him because he wasn't showing how much Wormmon being captured was bothering him. "They're all going to be fine. They have to be." Her eyes locked with Ken as she said this, specifically wanting him to have some of their confidence.

Ken smiled a bit. "Yeah. Let's get moving then."

Davis nodded as well. "Yeah! We'll definitely get Veemon and Wormmon away before The Hollow or whatever you call him manages to use Imperialdramon. After all, they're our partners." He reached out, squeezing Ken's shoulder in assurance.

"Isn't that precious?" A female voice giggled and it was so shrill and fake that Yolei wanted to hit whoever that voice belonged to if she was honest because it made her want to gag. A woman appeared, who looked around their age. She had lush thick blond hair, tied up in two longer ponytails and purple eyes that could pierce through the very soul.

"Who are you?" Yolei demanded to know.

"Talk about Barbie Doll," Noriko said a little sarcastically, unable to help it and Yolei had to agree at that. This girl had the Barbie Doll look all over her, minus the innocence of the dolls that little girls usually played with as a child.

"The name's Erika," The girl said with another shrill giggle. "And if you honestly think you can rescue your digimon, you have another thought coming."

"And how exactly are you going to stop us?" Davis demanded to know.

"Davis!" Yolei hissed, annoyed. They didn't have much of a fighting chance if this girl wasn't completely human and for some reason, she was getting the feeling that she wasn't.

"What?" Davis snapped. "She's goading us!"

"We don't even know if she's human or not!" Yolei retorted. "Do you honestly think Hawkmon and Lunamon will be enough to take her on if a fight breaks out?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Davis bit back. "Listen to her crap?"

"I didn't say that!" Yolei huffed. Honestly, why was Davis so impossible at times? He was too hotheaded and she almost wished Kari was here. She could always calm him down in times like these.

"Would you two please stop fighting?" Ken said, stepping between the two of them, looking more than a little exasperated. "Now is really not the time."

"Oh don't worry," Erika said, rolling her eyes. "I have all day to watch those two lovebirds squabbling."

"We're not lovebirds!" Davis and Yolei snapped together, the latter's cheeks heating up at being called that.

"Either way," TK said after sighing at his two friends. "We're going to get our Digimon back. Do you work for The Hollow?"

"Of course!" Erika said, too bright a smile on her features. "He's the one who gives us Hybrids like us so many rights in the digital world. These digimon are simply paying the price for the luxurious life they've lived. Why do they get to live happily and in freedom while we are oppressed? The Hollow understood this and for his revolution, we will not let you DigiDestined interfere."

"You're crazy," Yolei said bluntly stepping forward. "You honestly think this Hollow creep wants anything more than digital world domination? He just wants to take over. How do you know he isn't just using you to work for him and once he's done with that, he'll just throw you out and continue his quest to rule the digital world. I doubt he cares at all about the rights that you Hybrids as you call yourselves get. You're the ones who'll regret it if you don't let us interfere. He wants to turn Imperialdramon into his slave – do you know Imperialdramon has the potential to kill all of you and us in the blink of an eye?"

Erika listened to this, eyes showing no interest and she gazed at Yolei as if she were an insolent child. "Our Master told us you'd try to get us to your side. Maybe I'll get rid of you first and then play with your friends." Her gaze hardened and icicles shot from her hands, one of them scraping Yolei's arm as she had ducked when she saw the icicles heading her way.

"Yolei!" Hawkmon and Ken cried out.

"You're so reckless," Ken murmured as Hawkmon shielded them both.

"I had to do something," Yolei said, wincing in protest although she had to admit, that did hurt more than a slight sting. She was lucky to be in one piece to be honest.

Ken tied a cloth to her arm to stem the bleeding somewhat. "I should have packed some first aid but we came here so suddenly that I didn't think of it."

"Maybe Joe has something," TK said leaning next to them, concerned about Yolei. "You need to be more careful Yolei."

"I'm worried about everyone else and the other digimon," Yolei protested. "Being careful doesn't seem to be getting us much anywhere. I want to protect Wormmon and Veemon for Ken and Davis."

Ken sighed. "Oh Yolei…" He was about to say more when Lunamon cut them off.

"Can you have your conversation later?" Lunamon snapped urgently. "We have a situation at hand here!"

Noriko sweatdropped. "Lunamon, Yolei is hurt. Be a little sympathetic would you?" Her partner certainly was blunt which was a difference from her own shy personality.

* * *

Davis sighed, trying to keep everyone's spirits up and keep them going but wasn't really succeeding since no one had been responding. When the new enemy appeared – a girl with lush blonde hair and purplish eyes who called herself Erika, he was instantly on guard. "As much as Noriko's right, we can't afford to lose focus. We need to deal with this chick after all!"

Erika's smile widened and she floated over to him, grasping Davis by the chin. "Then why don't you deal with me pretty boy?" Her eyes glowed and Davis felt he couldn't move. He knew he should try and get away but her gaze seemed to have paralysed.

'S-stop!' Davis wanted to say but the words wouldn't come out. He wanted to squirm away but he couldn't move. He wanted to kick at her and save himself.

"You're going to be fun," Erika crooned, the voice sending chills down Davis's spine. "With you gone, miracles will never occur." She used her free hand to stroke the boy's cheek causing him to shudder. He knew he needed to pull away but Veemon wasn't here.

"Davis!" An echo of voices shouted out causing him to snap out of her trance and quickly pull away from her. Ken, Yolei, TK and Cody were all looking at him in concern while Noriko briefly appeared puzzled.

"What happened to you?" Yolei demanded to know. "You're not mesmerized by this freak's beauty or something are you?"

Davis gaped at his purple-haired friend as if she had grown another head. "What? No of course not! Kari is way more beautiful than she is…she did something to me. I couldn't move until you guys called out to me. I have no clue what she did."

Ken moved to his side. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"How touching," Erika drawled. "But Ken Ichijouji, remember this. We will not allow Miracles to shine. Your friend's heart is too pure to exist."

Ken's eyes narrowed and he moved in front of Davis. "Keep your hands off of my best friend."

TK moved besides Ken as well, eyes flashing. "You'll have to go through all of us to get to him. I mean that."

Cody didn't sound as fierce as he spoke but his expression said he too would be willing to fight for Davis if it came down to that. "We're in this together."

Yolei clenched her fists, stepping next to Davis as well. "Yeah! I'm the only one who gets to mess around with Davis got it girlie?"

"Hey!" Davis protested, glaring at his friend. "Don't kill the mood!" In all honesty, bickering with Yolei made him feel a bit better because being that close to this girl made him feel paralysed as if he knew he should move but simply couldn't. He was surprised though when Noriko shyly stepped besides TK as well.

"I'm not as strong as the others," Noriko admitted. "But Davis is our leader and I'll do my best to look out for him too."

Davis grinned. "Thanks Noriko! At least you're more honest than Yolei."

Erika sighed. "You're all so noble." A smirk filled her face but she did back away. "I suppose it wouldn't be half as fun if you cooperated. Good luck on your resistance." She vanished and Davis sighed in relief. He was honestly grateful that the others had called out when he had because he had a bad feeling about this girl – one he really didn't like. He liked being able to move around, thank you very much!

"I have a bad feeling about that girl…" Ken mused silently. "We'll need to be on guard. All of us. And we have to protect Davis."

"I'll be fine," Davis said forcing himself to sound confident and hide how he truly felt. "It's Veemon and Kari I'm more worried about. And you Ken." He was the leader after all so he had to stay strong for the rest of them, not worrying about his own doubts. Ken was watching him carefully though and with their heart beats in sync, he had to make sure nothing showed on his face to be honest otherwise it would be tough to hide. This wasn't going to be easy…

* * *

Ken knew Davis was more shaken by this woman than he was letting on and vowed to keep a silent eye on his best friend, knowing that even though Davis was an open person usually, he didn't talk much about his own fears and uncertainties. He moved to Yolei's side then since she had been injured. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Over the years, Yolei had grown quite beautiful, her lavender hair falling down below her waist and she now wore contacts instead of her round glasses that she had worn when she was younger. More than that, her beautiful smile always reassured him that things would work out somehow and her optimism gave him strength like he never had before.

Yolei blushed at his concern but smiled. "I'm fine, you bandaged the wound up pretty well, Ken. Don't worry about it. Let's focus on finding Wormmon ok?"

Ken nodded, thoughts drifting to Wormmon. "Do you think he's alright Yolei?"

Yolei's expression was confident as she nodded. "I don't think so, I know he has to be alright. He's one of the strongest digimon I know. And from what Davis tells me, he has some of the strongest determination that he's ever seen before like when he led Davis up to your power room just because he wanted to save you. But Ken? He may need you to be the strong one for him this time. I don't know who this enemy is but what I do know is that it's dangerous. I don't think this Erika holds even half the power that The Hollow does and even she was pretty strong."

Ken had to agree with that. If he hadn't called out to Davis, he didn't know if his best friend could have snapped out of that woman's trance and she may have been able to take him away. "I will be strong for Wormmon and for Davis too. I wonder why Erika's after him though."

Yolei bit her lower lip. "Do you think it has something to do with his new Crest? I mean he was able to use the DigiEgg of Miracles so maybe that really is his Crest. Too bad we don't have Gennai to guide us about all of this."

"Yeah…" Ken murmured. He could see Davis with the Crest of Miracles, given his personality and given the fact that he single-handedly took on MaloMyotismon for a few minutes at the least and how he was the only one not to give up when the odds were stacked against them. But that was viewed as a threat somehow. He could understand. He knew if Davis was taken away, the rest of them weren't always as hopeful as Davis was, even TK who held the Crest of Hope in his hands.

"TK!" Patamon's cheerful yet slightly weak voice came and the little flying hamster flew into TK's arms.

"Hey," TK's eyes watered a little. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"I can't stay long," Patamon admitted softly. "Gatomon needs me right now. She's waiting a little further away. I'm sorry TK."

Ken's heart went out to TK as his face fell when Patamon mentioned he couldn't stay. He knew the other was trying to be a good friend to Gatomon but the feline digimon wasn't doing the right thing. He did see Gatomon looking away and stepped towards her slowly. "Gatomon. Kari isn't here right now. Will you stay for Patamon's sake at least?"

"No," Gatomon said bluntly causing Ken to sigh. Somehow he had expected this and wasn't sure what the best way to convince her would be.

"Come on Gatomon!" Davis said passionately before Ken could even think of what to say. "Why are you blaming Kari for Gennai's betrayal. It's not her fault. We didn't even know Gennai had betrayed all of us before we came here. We have tough enemies out there, Gatomon, don't you think we should stick together?"

"Stick together?" Gatomon scoffed, laughing. "Spare me your false friendship. The entire digital world turned on us to save their own skins – you guys don't even know half the situation yet and you're promising us to save this world. I always have to do things alone. This is nothing new for me."

"Gatomon," Patamon said quietly from TK's arms. "You're right, they don't know the situation but what if Gennai kept the portals closed on purpose?" His eyes were saddened. "I mean, he's turned on us and the DigiDestined would fry him for doing that to us. I know TK would and I believe in the others too. But I won't give up on you either. You protected me…you saved my life and I would be a pile of digital data along with those other dead bodies if you hadn't saved me from Gennai's discs."

TK gave a sharp intake of breath at how close Patamon had come to dying and his fists clenched. "Kari was right. No explanation is good enough to explain this." He stepped forward as well. "Gatomon, look. You don't have to trust us but can you give us the benefit of the doubt? We didn't know what was going on. We barely got over here to find this place on the verge of destruction. Can you cooperate with us until we prove ourselves?"

"If not for us," Patamon added quietly. "Then for Wizardmon's sake."

Ken bit his lower lip, wondering if mentioning Wizardmon was the right idea. Kari, TK and the others had told him about Wizardmon and Gatomon and he had known about Gatomon's previous alliance with Myotismon, but given how sensitive Gatomon was right now. Her face did seem to change at that however, almost soften as well if it can be considered that way however before she could utter a sound, a net fell upon the whole group, electricity surging through the wires of the net.

"Don't move," TK warned urgently and Ken tugged at both Davis and Yolei's wrists so neither of them did something impulsive because he knew this net would shock and injure them.

"Hawkmon!"

"Lunamon!"

Both Hawkmon and Lunamon had attempted to attack the electric net but it had shocked them both, throwing them back. Ken's heart sunk as the net was lifted up by what appeared to be a digital version of a spacecraft. He wanted to shield Yolei, pull her close so she wouldn't injure herself anymore but didn't know how she would feel about that. Just the thought of holding her so close to his own body made the blood rush up his cheeks and he tried to push the thought away.

"Davis, no!" Ken cried, grabbing Davis and pulling him back.

"Dammit Ken we have to do something," Davis said, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Ken sighed. "Getting ourselves shocked won't get us out of here. We need another plan." He watched Gatomon trying to break through with the darkness in her heart and while it wasn't shocking her back, it didn't seem to be working either. This was definitely not a good start to be honest – if they got captured themselves, they would be of no help to the digimon or to Tai and the others. But what could they do?


	7. Chapter 7

Okay so getting more writing done for Nano. It really helps no matter how behind I am. I'm a bit confused about the ratings system on this website but either way, I think mature themes can be done with a T-rating but either way I want to warn for some major Davis psychological torture and major hints of Daikari – sorry to those who don't like the couple, but even non-Daikari fans will feel sorry for Davis in this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 07: Shadowed Hope**

Cody could not believe things had ended up this way. This wasn't supposed to happen but he supposed he should have been used to it by now given how unpredictable the digital world was but he honestly could not see a way out of this one. They were chained to the wall as well as locked up in a cage with their D-3s taken away from them. Needless to say, all the optimistic thinking in the world couldn't get them out of this.

"What are we supposed to do?" Cody asked TK who was the closest.

TK grimaced, squirming slightly against the chains. "We really need a plan."

"No shit Sherlock," Yolei grumbled clearly irritated. "How did you figure that one out? Davis, what do we do?"

"If only we could reach our D-3s," Davis muttered but Cody didn't see any way in which they could do that right now.

"Welcome!" Erika's voice jeered as she appeared in front of them again, peering at them from outside the cage and Cody could feel his friends stiffen and he had to admit, a rush of nervousness went down his spine too but he managed to hide it well because panicking would get them nowhere.

"Are you the one who captured us?" Davis yelled at her.

Erika giggled. "So adventurous aren't you? But no, I'm not the one who captured you. There are many digimon who would like to please The Hollow and gain a number with him." She hummed a little and made herself appear inside the cage, walking over to Davis. "I did request The Hollow one little thing though." She clicked her fingers and the chains on Davis became loose and he was free but before he could do much, Erika grabbed hold of him. "That was to make sure Miracles breaks permanently enough to dull that crest like the rest of them."

"Let him go!" Cody's own voice mixed with Ken, TK, Yolei and Noriko's and he could feel everyone struggling to get out of their confines but nothing seemed to be working. His heart sunk as he watched Davis attempt to break free of Erika's grip but no such luck unfortunately. Even though their friend was trying to hide his fear, Cody could tell their usual fearless leader was scared.

"Sorry, I don't take orders from you," The blonde girl hummed, clamping a cloth over Davis's mouth causing him to go limp before vanishing with him.

"Kari and Tai are going to kill us," Yolei moaned and Cody winced, knowing the original leader and his sister were the closest to Davis other than Ken of course.

"Forget that," TK snapped. "We need to find a way out of here. There must be some sort of weakness in these chains."

If there was a weakness though, Cody couldn't find it. He may hold the DigiEgg of Knowledge but all the smarts in the world couldn't help them out of this jam because he didn't see Hawkmon or Lunamon anywhere either. At least with them as well as Patamon and Gatomon, they may have somewhat of a chance to get out. Maybe Patamon could convince Gatomon to help them find a way out of here because otherwise he didn't know what they were going to do. _Hang in there Davis…_

* * *

Davis felt his vision slowly returning to him and he tried to adjust his eyesight to where he was. He was no longer chained to a wall, that was for sure but as of now, he wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or not because when his vision cleared, he saw a glimpse of blond hair and his heart began to race. Oh no! Had Erika kidnapped him? The thought sent shivers down his spine because he didn't know what she had planned for him. He didn't want to know.

"Oh you're awake," Erika's giggly voice spoke again. "I didn't think you'd be awake so soon after I knocked you out."

His head was still spinning but Erika was speaking so loudly that he was able to make out what she was saying. "Why do…why do you keep targeting me?" He had never been so important, really, usually enemies targeted Ken or Kari. Heck, even TK had more importance than him so it puzzled him on why an enemy would target him in particular.

Erika hummed. "Is it unexpected for you? You don't realise it do you, Child of Miracles? You do not realise what your worth is, do you? You're all useful in your own ways but you're the savior. The one who brings about a miracle when all hope is lost. When the light in their hearts completely fades away, you will bring about a miracle that rises from the ashes."

Davis gaped. Was Erika saying some sort of prophecy regarding his Crest? He had no idea to be perfectly honest. She was clearly saying something about TK and Kari since she mentioned Hope and Light but beyond that, he had no clue. "I don't really get it…" He knew he was dumb and almost wished Yolei or Ken were here to explain it to him. And Kari…would he ever see her again? They had parted ways with the other group, promising to meet again soon but now…

"Don't think too much on it," Erika said, resting a hand on Davis's cheek. He inadvertently flinched at her touch, trying to move away but found once again that he couldn't move away, just like before. A chill ran down his spine. The others weren't here to break him out of it if Erika did whatever she had done before. For the first time, since he had ever become a DigiDestined, he felt trapped, helpless. He had a Crest but no idea where his partner was or how to even use it. He was the leader but he was separated from his team and his friends.

"S-stop," he managed to stammer out but it came out a lot more meek than he had imagined it to be and more of a request than a demand. It sickened him. What was wrong with him? Was she doing something to him to make him feel this way? He had always been able to bullhead his way through things then why not now? What was so different about now?

 _I gathered my courage for you._ He remembered saying these words to Kari earlier. He had been scared before armor-digivolving Veemon at first because he had no idea what was going on and even now, he didn't know. He didn't know or understand what was going to happen to him. He had told Kari it was okay to draw strength from others but he hadn't mentioned that he was the same. Alone, he was powerless.

"Awwww are you missing someone?" Erika almost cooed, but there was nothing genuine about her voice, which was sickly sweet as she ran her fingers down his covered chest, causing him to shiver.

"My friends will stop you," Davis managed to say, a little surprised he wasn't stammering anymore but somehow thinking of Kari brought back a little of the courage he still had even though he was still scared. He had to make it back to her. He didn't want to die here! He wanted to be able to tell her his feelings even if she rejected him. Even if she said she just considered him a close friend, he wanted to tell her his crush on her had never really disappeared.

"I agree," Erika said, stepping away for a moment. "Your friends will save you eventually. But will they be able to save you in time?" She touched his shoulder and he felt as if his whole body had been lit in flames. He bit his lip not to scream and give her any satisfaction, shutting his eyes to keep them from watering in pain. Was she going to slowly torture and then kill him? He didn't know but he wished she'd get over what she wanted already because this waiting for his impeding doom was making him even more anxious.

She then released her grip on his shoulder but grabbed both his hands, pinning them above his head so he couldn't move them. He knew the fear in his eyes was obvious and somehow felt that this fear was making her even more excited but he couldn't help it. This girl was creepy and unpredictable! It was impossible not to be afraid.

"Don't worry Child of Miracles," Erika purred. "This will only hurt if you struggle. Fire burns when you mess with it in the wrong ways after all." She could feel the other squirming to get his hands free and escape. The crazy girl allowed her free hand to push off Davis's blue and flaming red jacket.

Davis began squirming and struggling. "Let go of me!" It was becoming clear what this girl's intentions was. She wanted to break him and like hell, would he let her get away with that especially with the method she was thinking of using. Kari was the only girl for him and the only one he really wanted. No one else even came close to her. He wouldn't let them. He cringed as a blow hit his face suddenly making his head spin and it took him a moment to realise that Erika had slapped him. It wasn't a normal slap, mind you, because it made bile rise down his throat and he felt as if he would throw up.

"I told you," Erika said, her voice much colder than before. "Resistance is futile. We will silence a miracle."

Davis glowered at her. "I won't make this easy for you! Maybe I don't realise my worth but I do know one thing! My friends need me and my digimon partner too. I won't let them down by surrendering to you." He didn't know where his courage had come from but the thought of betraying Ken, TK, Cody, Yolei and especially Kari by not fighting back against being broken made the courage to fight as hard as he could even if he was powerless. After all, that was what Veemon would want too right?

Erika raised her eyebrow, her forehead creased in irritation and for a moment, Davis thought she might slap him again but what she did do took him by surprise. Still keeping his hands pinned so he couldn't move them, she crashed her lips against his. The gogglehead squirmed, wanting to kick her off but there was something about her power that rendered him unable to move and push her off. His eyes watered at his own helplessness because she wasn't letting up and he was beginning to lose breath. He let out a muffled noise of protest as she sunk her teeth into his lip, causing blood to trickle as she forced entrance into his mouth.

 _Help me…someone please help…Tai, Veemon, please. Ken where are you?_ Tai had always been there to look out for him when he had doubts and he wished the older gogglehead was here now to guide him somehow but given what Erika wanted to do with him, Tai probably wouldn't even want to be his friend anymore. Disgust filled inside him at how powerless he was. _I'm pathetic…I don't deserve them…if I can't even fight back against this girl. I've betrayed Kari by letting another girl kissing me but I don't want this! I don't!_ But who would believe him if they walked in right at this moment? Who would believe in his loyalty? Would anyone?

Erika finally pulled away and giggled at the look on his face. "My power is beginning to take effect but remember…this is only the beginning, Child of Miracles. The fire in your eyes hasn't been doused yet. Resistance is futile." She licked the blood off his lips before vanishing from there and Davis felt he could finally move again, at least his limbs. He sunk his head into his knees. How had he gotten himself into this situation? He didn't know but one thing was sure. He needed to find a way out…even if Kari and the others loathed him for allowing her to have her way with him.

* * *

Izzy was typing furiously on his computer, the gang gathered around him as if waiting for him to figure out a weakness in the walls or something. He had found some weak points but he wasn't sure if Gomamon alone would be enough to break through. Was it possible he could do something with the computer and break through the walls? No, that was logically impossible.

"Did you find anything Izzy?" Tai asked his friend.

"There are some weak points in the walls and even in the ground we're in. Although the points in the wall seem to be booby-trapped," Izzy explained. "Our safest bet is digging our way out of here even though we'll need to be quick."

"Digging?" Mimi said frowning. "Do we really have to?"

"You want to get out don't you?" Izzy said raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes but…" Mimi began but Izzy cut her off.

"Then we can't worry about getting our hands dirty," Izzy scolded her. "Mimi, fashion isn't important all the time." He didn't mean to sound like that but they had no time to be picky considering the enemy could find them at any minute.

"Besides," Tai said in a much nicer tone than Izzy. "I know helping Palmon is more important to you than anything right now. Right?"

Mimi nodded and the group got to work. Gomamon used his fishes to soften the ground by shooting water out of their mouths so their digging was made easier. It was lucky there was six of them so they managed to dig their way out of there. Izzy did point out that it seemed almost too easy but everyone was too focused on escaping. As they dug their way out, they managed to get out of the room they were stuck in but of course getting out wasn't that easy.

"Sora!" A familiar voice screamed out and the group turned to see Biyomon and Tentomon both chained to the walls. Izzy's heart clenched seeing his partner like this but before he could suggest on what they should do, another horde of evil digimon surrounded them. This was not good. With only Gomamon, they couldn't hold them off for too long and he knew that. But what else could they do? He was meant to be the Bearer of Knowledge but the situations they were faced in were much tougher than before. Their partners had always been there to help out but now with limited number of partners

"Joe, my plan is a little risky but can Ikkakumon hold these guys off? I'm going to try something to free Biyomon and Tentomon," Izzy asked, knowing it wasn't right to put Gomamon in that sort of danger but knowing they were running out of options at the same time, they had to act. "I know it's hard but I need time to be able to break them out."

Joe appeared hesitant but Matt rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Believe in Gomamon," Matt said quietly. "I'm sure he can buy us time. He won't let us down."

The hesitance on Joe's face vanished and he nodded, his digivice bursting into light as Gomamon digivolved into Ikkakumon. Izzy hurried over quickly and plugged in his laptop to a socket and his digivice into his computer and began typing furiously. He knew he was putting everyone in danger and he hated that. What use were his smarts if he couldn't hurry things up and help everyone?

"Hurry up Izzy!" Joe said in clear panic as Ikkakumon was losing the battle because he was outnumbered.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Izzy snapped, not meaning to as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He couldn't seem to get the code right – there had to be a way to do this. Maybe…no that wasn't it. He couldn't help but cringe as Ikkakumon was thrown against the wall and his heart thudded even faster when Ikkakumon dedigivolved to Gomamon. Okay, he may be unsure about this but he had to try it. He pressed the key and Tentomon was released but not Biyomon. He was about to raise his digivice but Tai tackled him out of the way of an oncoming attack.

"Be careful would you?" Tai grunted, clearly concerned. "We're outnumbered right now. Don't forget that!" The team had scattered in order to avoid being attacked.

"Izzy!" Tentomon cried, trying to fly over to him but he was still locked in a cage.

Izzy nodded. "I know that Tai!" He raised his digivice as it flashed brightly. "Tentomon, we need to work together to get out of this. I don't know right now on how we're going to win but I never did before. I learnt with you by my side. It's okay not knowing things sometimes right as long as we keep learning. I want to be able to find a solution but I can't do it without you." His Crest gave off a soft glow. It wasn't as bright as it was always but it wasn't completely black anymore either.

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

"We'll keep learning," Izzy said determinedly. "We've always saved the digital world by learning more and more about it. It is shocking that Gennai betrayed us but we still have each other. Our logic, our knowledge is strong and we'll lead the team to victory won't we Kabuterimon?" The crest glowed a bit more brighter.

"Kabuterimon digivolve to…MegaKabuterimon!"

Everyone looked stunned at this.

"He was able to digivolve to Ultimate!" Tai said beaming. "This is awesome! We actually stand somewhat of a chance to get out of here now! How did you manage that Izzy?"

Izzy looked at Tai. "I'm uncertain to be honest. I was thinking about a lot of things and earlier I was a little troubled that Gennai, who is supposed to be our guide betrayed us and how we had no knowledgable guide to get us out of this situation. Tentomon told me once that it was okay to not know certain things as long as we learn along the way somehow. Even though I don't know how now, I'm bound to learn as I go along, as long as we're in this together. Besides, we need to save this world. All of us, for our digimon. This enemy is different you guys, can you not feel it's power given its ability to be able to make our partners give up."

"Yeah, you're right," Sora began but was cut off as a sobbing Biyomon (who had been freed by MegaKabuterimon) came flying into her arms. "Oh Biyo…I really missed you, you know." Her own eyes watered a little.

"I'm glad you came," Biyomon admitted. "After what Gabumon did, it's so hard to believe that love exists anymore."

"What did he do?" Sora asked her partner, exchanging a glance with Matt who had gone pale.

"When I was captured, I know he could hear my screams," Biyomon said sniffling. "But he didn't come to save me. I know he was in more danger than me, but what kind of Digimon of Friendship is he to leave me out to dry? Love doesn't exist anymore, Sora."

"Oh Biyomon," A tear rolled down Sora's cheek as she hugged her friend closer while Izzy felt his head spin. Trust was really breached in their group right now. He just hoped with this breach, they'd be able to do something. This lack of unity was caused by the enemy and he had a feeling if they didn't mend it soon, it would be taken advantage of, in more ways than one. _We still have a long way to go. But I know we'll get there._

"Guys, we're going to have to come back for Palmon and Agumon," Izzy said. "Tai, Mimi, I know you two don't want to leave here without them and to be honest, I don't blame you. But we need to be careful and meet up with Davis and the others. It wasn't a complete loss since Sora and I have our partners and hopefully Davis and his group have found some of the others as well. MegaKabuterimon can't handle more enemies right now and Biyomon seems too shaken to digivolve."

Tai turned to Izzy, listening to his words and nodding. "You're right. We need to survive if we're going to win the final battle."

Everyone climbed onto MegaKabuterimon and he flew off, after leaving the digimon armies unconscious. No one knew what was going to happen next but they were getting somewhere at least which was better than nothing.

* * *

Veemon slowly drifted into consciousness and for some reason felt as if Davis was calling out to him. Was he slowly becoming delusional from being trapped here? He didn't know but he could have sworn that his partner needed him but why? What could have possibly gone wrong in the human world that Davis would need his digimon partner to defend him?

"Veemon," A familiar voice hissed but that wasn't Davis's voice. It was Gatomon's although something wasn't right. He couldn't tell what exactly wasn't right but he did manage to gain the strength to open his eyes, seeing Gatomon enshrouded in a dark aura, a very concerned Patamon flying next to her as he looked at him.

"G-Gatomon?" Veemon rasped weakly. "What's going on here? How did you get here?"

Gatomon scoffed. "As if their stupid dark confines could capture me." Her eyes regarded him. "I managed to get myself and Patamon away since I'm not letting morals bind me any longer. But don't worry about us. Your partner's the one in danger."

"What?" Veemon said frowning. His head was still spinning a little. "Patamon, what is she talking about?"

Patamon shifted a bit. "Our human partners came to this world to try and save us but The Hollow's followers captured them. They're all trapped right now and Davis…" He trailed off, unable to say more than that and Veemon's heart clenched. Davis and the others were here? In the digital world? Whilst he had always hoped they would come here, he hadn't thought they'd be able to especially given the situation and Gennai's sudden disappearance. He was glad they had come to help but Patamon looked so nervous while Gatomon's eyes were blank.

He wasn't sure what was worse. Gatomon's emotionless or Patamon's reluctance to tell him anything. Gatomon's blankness sent chills down his spine while Patamon's worry made his heart sink. He knew Davis and the others being captured was bad news considering none of them were with their partners but somehow he felt there was. Prior to popular belief, he wasn't stupid and he could read the situation quite well.

"Patamon," Veemon managed to move forward. "What happened to Davis?"

"Davis has a Crest," Patamon explained not meeting Veemon's eyes, which just made the blue dragon even more nervous. "He's got the Crest with him but it's not really glowing yet to be honest. Erika, one of the Hollow's loyal followers kept on saying he has the Crest of Miracles and how they won't allow a Miracle to occur. She's taken Davis somewhere separately from the others."

Veemon's eyes widened. Erika? No, no! She was one of the most manipulative of The Hollow's evil minions. She would slaughter Davis from the inside and he wouldn't even be able to put up a resistance until it was too late because she was good at getting into the head. "No…not her. She's vile. We need to save him Patamon please!" He lunged at the bars of the cage but was electrocuted by the invisible forcefield and thrown back to the ground. He coughed, already being injured from the earlier beating and stumbled back, coughing digital blood, his head spinning even more than it had before.

"Getting yourself killed isn't noble, it's just stupid," Gatomon said coldly.

"Gatomon!" Patamon chided his friend. "Veemon's upset."

"How does he expect to save his partner if he can't save himself?" Gatomon said with a shrug. "Either way, can we go now? You only said we should tell Veemon about his partner's demise. I'm getting bored here."

"Davis means something to Kari too, Gatomon," Patamon said softly. "I know you don't really want to work with Kari anymore but can't you at least help someone important to him?"

"I have no interest in doing that," Gatomon replied coolly. "I'd rather remain free even when this world is destroyed. Give me a call when you want to rejoin with me or if you don't. Our sire bond will allow you to contact me." She jumped into the air and then she vanished from there as if she had never been there in the first place.

If Veemon wasn't so worried about Davis, he'd be confused at why Gatomon was acting so cold and even a little concerned but right now, his thoughts revolved around protecting his partner because Erika had too much power. He had heard the stories of those digimon who had lost their mind when dealing with her power and Davis was a normal human without him.

"Patamon," Veemon pleaded. "Please help me save Davis. Erika will break him! She has too much power!"

"Veemon, calm down," Patamon said gently. "Someone will find us if you're any louder and without Gatomon, I don't have the darkness shield. I'm going to help you but for that, I need your help. The two of us can't save Davis on our own, we need TK and the others as well as Hawkmon and Lunamon. If Erika's as dangerous as you say, we can't be reckless. It's not safe for us and we may end up failing Davis."

Veemon realized that Patamon was right. No matter how much he felt like ripping Erika to pieces for messing with Davis, he couldn't rush in blindly. Davis needed him to be smart about this but the longer they took to work out a plan, the more time Erika would have alone with Davis which was fatal. He bit his lip. They were trapped between a rock and a hard place. Both decisions were equally difficult.

"Alright," Veemon agreed. "There's a switch to the left of the room. It has a code to it but if you use your attack, you can probably break the lock." He could hear someone headed their way. "Hurry up Patamon!"

Patamon flew as quick as he could. "Boom Bubble! Pa!" The lock broke and the cage disappeared just as Airdramon broke in. Veemon quickly cradled Wormmon and ran faster than he had ever run before with Patamon flying hurriedly to keep up. He almost wished Gatomon hadn't left them because this would be a lot easier with her fighting abilities. He winced as an attack barely missed his shoulder and even though, it made every muscle of his scream, he willed himself to run faster. I have to save Davis, no matter what!


	8. Chapter 8

Hello there! Okay, I changed the rating of the story because this chapter contains a semi-graphic rape scene so warning for that. This is a very mature-themed chapter but it is necessary for the plot. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 08: Pieces of Venom**

No matter how hard Ken tried to break himself free from the chains, nothing seemed to work and that made his heart race. His best friend was in danger and he could do nothing to help him. Davis had always been there for him in the first adventure and he hated the thought that he couldn't help his best friend in the same way that the other had helped him.

"We have to do something," Ken gritted out. "Davis is in trouble. I can feel it." He couldn't fail another brother. He couldn't lose Davis the way he had lost Sam. If they failed Davis now, he truly was a cursed person who didn't deserve any of the other's friendships. He didn't deserve Davis, Yolei or any of them really.

"Don't lose faith, Ken," Yolei cut into his thoughts before he could think more on it. "We're going to free Davis before that witch hurts him, I promise."

Ken winced and shook his head. "What if she's already hurt him? She seemed obsessed with him, Yolei!"

Yolei bit her lower lip. "He would want you to keep the courage strong, Ken. I know you're worried. I am too. So we have to hurry up and find a way…" She trailed off and for a moment, Ken wondered why she had stopped talking when suddenly the cage around them disappeared and Veemon with an unconscious Wormmon in his arms, Patamon, Hawkmon and Lunamon broke through.

Ken looked absolutely relieved when the chains came off and quickly relinquished Veemon free of Wormmon, readying himself in case any digimon attacked but no one came to do so. Well, that was suspicious. "How were you guys able to escape so easily?"

"There were digimon chasing us but they stopped all of a sudden," Patamon murmured frowning. "They didn't even stop us freeing Lunamon and Hawkmon."

"There's something not right about that," Ken mused to himself and he could tell that his friends were thinking the same. It was almost as if The Hollow were allowing them to go help Davis but why?

"We don't have time to think of why," Yolei pointed out. "We should be focusing on saving Davis right now. We have most of our digimon by our side, even if Wormmon's unconscious right now. Is it really smart to wait?"

Ken bit his lower lip. Yolei had a point but he couldn't help but think they were walking into a trap. He wasn't good at decision making which was why he trusted Davis's judgement most of the time. He turned towards TK. "What do you think we should do?"

"Maybe some of us should stay here?" TK suggested. "That way not all of us will be taken by the trap if it is one."

Cody bit his lower lip. "I still don't have Armadillomon but I don't like the idea of separating. I mean, isn't there safety in numbers? We're already separated enough as it is. And separating from Kari and the others didn't really get us anywhere."

Ken cringed a bit. He could feel something and he had a feeling they really were pressed for time right now. They needed to get to Davis. Whether they did it separately or as a team was a different matter entirely. He didn't know why but his heart was sinking – almost as if it were a warning of some sort that something terrible was about to happen.

"You guys worry too much!" A familiar voice said and Davis appeared right in front of them causing most of them to jump albeit Ken surveyed his best friend cautiously. Something wasn't right. He couldn't feel Davis's heartbeat and he didn't know why. Yolei seemed relieved though and so did Cody and TK. _Maybe I'm just being paranoid about things. I mean, the others seem alright with things._ He knew being Davis's DNA partner allowed him to feel a lot of things but even so…he couldn't be sure. Davis had just escaped a pretty creepy witch who had very strange powers.

"How did you escape?" He heard Yolei ask.

"We were really worried about you," TK said as well. "I mean, that freaky witch seemed obsessed with you. Did she hurt you?"

Davis laughed. "Come on guys, she wasn't that hard to deal with and I managed to trick her."

Ken raised an eyebrow. Davis was a lot of things – brave, courageous, kind but being able to manipulate the situation was not part of his skill set so how exactly had he managed to do that? Had someone helped him? Something just didn't feel right but Davis was acting perfectly normal for the most part. "Well, now that you're here, shouldn't we focus on getting out of here? Before we're attacked?" He wasn't sure, so pointing it out simply wouldn't be right to be honest.

"It's too late for that!" Two digimon appeared, a blue dragon-like digimon called Allomon according to the information the D-3 provided as well as a insect-type digimon which looked more like a weapon than an actual digimon but according to the D-3, it was called BladeKuwagumon.

Yolei and TK both raised their D-3s, armor-digivolving their digimon to Halsemon and Pegasusmon. Ken locked eyes with Davis although the other quickly broke the gaze.

"Veemon seems a bit too tired to armor-digivolve right now," Davis quickly said. "Can Hawkmon and Patamon handle it?"

"It's not like you to want to stay out of a fight," Ken pointed out, unable to help but point out his suspicions because if they were correct, then Davis could still be in trouble.

Davis frowned. "Have you even taken a good look at Veemon, Ken? He's barely able to walk right now. I just don't want him to strain himself. Besides," He shifted a bit. "I guess I'm a little shaken myself as well. Just because I managed to escape doesn't mean she didn't do anything to me you know. She's creepy with a capital C, man."

Ken glanced over at Veemon who did seem to be falling over practically and seemed quite dizzy but he bit his lower lip. "You're right but Wormmon's unconscious. He can't fight either." He pushed his suspicions aside for now. Maybe he was being paranoid for no reason. The heartbeats could be off sync because maybe Davis was more shaken by Erika than he was letting on.

"I wish Armadillomon was here," Cody admitted. It seemed as if they didn't need to do much as suddenly the digimon attacking them retreated and left.

Ken's eyes narrowed. "Why did they leave?"

"They just saw how awesome we were and knew they didn't stand a chance!" Davis said cheerfully causing Ken to sweatdrop, his earlier doubts disappearing. Yes, that was something his friend would definitely say. Honestly…

"I don't think that's the reason," TK said before he could even start. "But shouldn't we at least try to get out of here whilst they're occupied and all?"

Ken sighed, unsure of that. It felt like they were being watched but even if they were, it would be more logical to get out of here so all their digimon could rest and because Wormmon couldn't digivolve like this at all but he wasn't sure. He glanced at Davis. "Should we get out?"

Davis shrugged. "The digimon are pretty beat up and even if it's risky, we should at least get them to rest some right? They need that? Half of us can go on Halsemon while the other half can go on Pegasusmon. Yolei, Noriko, Ken, you three come on Halsemon while Cody, TK and I can come on Pegasusmon. Sound good?"

Ken nodded. "It sounds perfect actually." As he moved to join Yolei, his shoulder brushed hers causing them both to blush and look away from one another. He was going to be seated so close to her. Thank goodness Noriko was going to be there too. He moved to sit himself on Halsemon's back, heart skipping a beat as Yolei sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. It seemed so right as her gentle breath tickled his ear. He just wanted to hold her close, stroke her beautiful hair and pull her into a passionate kiss – give her all the love she deserved because she lighted up his world with her brilliant smile. He wondered if Yolei could feel how fast his heart was racing with how close they were. His gaze moved to Wormmon who was in his arms and he stroked his friend's head gently.

"Hang in there, Wormmon," Ken murmured gently.

"He'll be alright," Yolei said as if guessing what he was thinking. "He's stronger than you think, stronger than we all think he is, Ken. Have faith in him." She rested her head against his shoulder causing his heart to skip another beat.

"Y-yeah," Ken stammered. "I'll always believe in him, like he does in me." He owed that much to his partner at least.

* * *

It didn't seem to matter how hard Davis tried, he couldn't break through the chains that that freak Erika had put on him. If only Veemon were here, he could have broken these stupid chains but alas no such luck.

"You're going to tire yourself out, my prince," Erika's voice crooned as she came back into the room. "You better get used to this place because it'll be your home for awhile now."

Davis glowered at her. "My friends will come to save me."

Erika blinked innocently, making a projection appear of the others. "Are you sure? As far as they're concerned, you're already with them."

Davis's heart sunk seeing a clone-like figure of himself with the others. He wanted to scream at the others for not being able to tell a real from a fake but if he was honest, the fake was acting so much like himself that maybe it honestly wasn't that easy to distinguish between them. _But they're my friends – they should know me better than that. I would never stay back and let my friends fight on my half!_

"What have you done?" Davis whispered. "How is that possible?"

Erika giggled. "We're stronger and smarter than you think and fortunately, your little friends are easy to trick. It's too bad they don't suspect anything at all isn't it?" She moved forward, running her fingers gently through Davis's spiky burgundy hair, causing the boy to attempt to flinch away but once again was rendered unable to move due to the evil witch's powers. "Stop fighting. You're making this harder than it has to be. Is there any point in fighting? No one is coming to rescue you now, even Veemon. In fact…" A smirk filled her features and she grabbed a red triangular shaped jewel. "Akuma, have BladeKuwagumon and Allomon retreat from the fight. Allow the DigiDestined to escape for now. There will be plenty of opportunities to capture them again later if needed."

"Very well," Akuma said shrugging. "Hope you know what you're doing, Erika."

Erika rolled her eyes. "I'm not you." She put the jewel down. Flipping her hair, she smiled venomously, her words crude and full of poison. With eyes cold as ice, her glance made him shiver with fear.

Davis grit his teeth. If the others escaped, he stood no chance of getting out of there. _Ken... Everyone, please realise. I'm not with you guys!_ It sounded ridiculous even in his head though because he knew if their roles were reversed, he didn't know if he'd be able to tell a fake that was so close to what he was really like. _Maybe Ken can't, but Kari and Tai should be able to. I have memories with them that are beyond our adventures together. The fake Davis wouldn't share those memories… right? Gah, this is too much!_

He thought about when he first met Kari, long before he even knew what a digimon was. Before then, he'd always been alone and thought of people with no trust in his heart. She'd become his first true friend, the one person that he wanted to keep for himself, not knowing that even back then, he'd always been in love. Tai used to make fun of him all the time when he trained him in soccer. He was sure that Kari would be able to just tell... His mind went blank. For a moment, it felt like he would choke on his own air.

He was snapped back to reality when he felt Erika's touch on his shoulder and tried to yank his shoulder away. Furious, he hollered, "Let me go! You won't get away with this!"

"For now, I have," Erika crooned softly, almost purring. "But I know I won't get away with what I'm about to do permanently. I look forward to your girlfriend's reaction to me once we're done." Her hand slipped past his shoulders, cascading down his chest, stopping there for a moment as Davis shuddered from her touch but couldn't do anything to stop her due to the power she held.

"Stop this!" Davis tried to demand but it came out as more like the weak whimper of an even weaker man than a demand. Erika leaned closer to his ear, so close that he could feel her breath brush against his earlobe.

"Give in, Davis," The blonde spoke softly. "This will hurt a lot less if you do."

Unable to muster a response, Davis simply shook his head. He knew what she had in mind but she was sorely mistaken if she thought he'd make this easy for her. He also knew she would get what she wanted from him and he was powerless to stop it, but if he couldn't beat her, he'd at least put up as much resistance as he could. _Kari, I love you. Even if you don't love me back, I wanna say at least that. Even if you break my heart, I don't want to regret anything. I have to tell you how I feel. For you, I have to try my best – even now._

Erika couldn't help but giggle. "Well, you wouldn't be the Child of Miracles if you weren't a little stubborn." She put her body close to his, making sure he could feel every curve on her body, her breast pressed against his chest then smiled slyly, her words soft and coy, she continued, "but I had to offer. It is kindness after all."

"What do you know about kindness anyway?" Davis spat. "You're just a heartless monster!"

Erika hummed. "Ken didn't know kindness at first either did he? Cruelty and kindness go hand in hand, Davis. Just like Light and Darkness. They're two sides of the same coin. This is for your own good." Her hand travelled further down until she reached the hem of Davis's light green shirt and gripped it lightly before pushing it upwards to where Davis's hands were tied.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Davis cried, trying to shiver and squirm or even get a good kick in but all he could do was shout and scream and even that fell on deaf ears. "P-please…don't do this." He bit his lip so hard that it begun to bleed as her hands snaked up his now nude chest, brushing against his nipples, causing them to harden at the touch. A shiver ran down his spine and he felt disgusted at himself for subconsciously responding to her touch. He didn't want her – he didn't, then why was his body betraying him like this?

"Stop tormenting yourself there, hun," Erika said, pinching and tweaking his nipple causing him to let out a whimper. She giggled at that. "Maybe it'll be easier to break you than I thought."

"Stop it," Davis protested again. "I love someone. Please stop it." He'd felt like begging was his only option. The gogglehead heard once that if a victim started telling their story to their possible killer, the latter would usually take pity on them and leave them alone. He could also try to speak to their sensible side. Davis wasn't even sure if he had a sensible side, but he was going to find out. "You don't even know if my Crest will end up shining or not so please…"

"A Miracle worker like you?" Erika hummed. "They even fear that despite you being broken, you'll still get your crest to shine somehow but I'll do my best to make sure that never happens, handsome. I almost feel sorry for that girl you love if she returns your sentiments of course, she'll have to keep damaged goods."

Davis's heart hammered in his chest. She really was going to do this. He didn't want this. He wanted to be with his friends, bickering with TK over Kari or something else, playing a soccer game with Ken, tell Yolei off for making fun of him like she always did while Cody tried to get both of them to calm down. He tugged at the ropes binding him but there was no point. "Stop…"

Erika sighed. "Oh, you're so adorable. Relax, I'll make it worthwhile for you." She slowly unbuttoned his shorts, pulling them down along with his underwear and grasped a hold of his penis, beginning to stroke gently causing a gasp to leave his mouth. "See? I told you it wouldn't be so bad."

Davis bit his teeth, eyes watering as shame filled inside him. His body was enjoying the swift, gentle strokes she was giving him and he hated himself for it. This wasn't fair! He may be too young to know about love but he knew one thing – that if he ever considered anyone for this, it was only Kari and nobody else.

"It's rude to think of another girl while I'm pleasuring you, love," The blonde cooed before taking the boy's penis in her mouth, sucking on it. Davis unwillingly let out a moan and bit his lip to keep from moaning anymore and giving her the satisfaction. She was making him feel things he had never felt before and he hated it. He hated himself for enjoying it, he hated himself for what she was making him feel. She then pulled away and undid the red strapped dress she was wearing, placing one leg on either side of him, sinking into him from the top.

Davis screamed as she forced his penis inside her and thrashed but the pain blinded him. He fought many battles but no pain he had ever faced before compared to this. Tears blurred his vision, and he just wanted to pass out but the pain was too much for him to do so.

* * *

Matt was glad they had managed to get out of there. Izzy's Crest had chosen the perfect moment to shine again. He just hoped the rest of their Crests could do the same but given what Biyomon said that Gabumon had done left doubts in his mind that he really didn't want to think about. Why would Gabumon hear Biyomon's screams and not come out to help her even if his own life was in danger? It just didn't make any sense to him no matter how he thought about it.

"Matt," Tai's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I don't really get it," Matt admitted. "Gabumon is meant to be the Digimon of Friendship and he's always been loyal to his friends, why would he abandon Biyomon like that? It just doesn't make sense." His mind was jumping to the worst possible conclusions which he hated. He knew he didn't know the whole story.

Tai sighed a bit. "I'm wondering the same thing but Izzy thinks since this creep wants Omnimon, Gabumon was just scared to get the same treatment as Agumon is getting right now. I know it doesn't excuse anything…he shouldn't have abandoned Biyomon but he was scared of being captured himself."

Matt had thought that might be a reason and whilst he was glad Gabumon hadn't been captured, the blond felt his heart clench seeing how broken Biyomon was. It pierced through his heart, seeing the disheartened look on his girlfriend's face but Sora had insisted that she wanted to be there for Biyomon on her own, which was understandable considering Biyomon probably did resent him a little as well.

He chewed on his lower lip. "I don't like this. Any of this. This enemy…he's different from anything we've ever faced before. Palmon and Gatomon have turned on us and the others are beaten or in no shape to help us. And we don't have Gennai's guidance either." His face formed an upset scowl as he thought about Gennai. He couldn't believe Gennai would abandon them and the digital world just because the enemy was too strong.

"No kidding," Tai said scowling as well. "I didn't even face him that long and I could already tell the creep is bad news! But I'll get Agumon away from him no matter what." His face softened and he reached out a hand, squeezing Matt's shoulder gently. "You don't worry ok? We'll search for Gabumon and find out why he did what he did. Maybe it's not as bad as we think."

 _You're right Tai. It'll probably be worse. Gabumon probably was more worried about himself because he would have been captured if he had stayed and help._ The thought made him almost angry at his Best Digital Friend and his fists clenched. What kind of digimon of friendship was he to abandon his friends like this? No wonder his Crest had stopped shining. Honestly.

It was almost as if Tai had read his mind for he suddenly glared at him, grasping him firmly by the shoulders. His eyes flickered with his usual fire, the one that made Matt believe that things might just turn out okay even if it didn't seem that way right now.

"No, Matt," Tai said firmly. "Don't think so negative. Gabumon's always believed in you even when you didn't believe in yourself. So did Sora and I so you need to believe in him now. He needs you to. He's scared, Matt. He needs his best friend now so stop thinking about what ifs and focus on how you're going to help him."

"Tai's right, Matt," Sora's soft voice spoke up and Matt turned to see his girlfriend holding a sleeping Biyomon. "You can't give up on Gabumon. I'm upset he abandoned Biyomon but I know Gabumon needs just as much help as Biyomon does. I want us to help both of them, Matt. And I can't do it alone. We can't do it without you."

Matt knew his best friend and girlfriend were right and was astounded at how selfless his girlfriend was. His heart swelled up in happiness at how lucky he was to have someone like her in his life and a brother like Tai who knew how to snap him out of his negative thoughts. He clenched a fist and nodded. "You're right. We need to help all of them work together. If Izzy can get his Crest to shine then so can the rest of us."

Tai and Sora both smiled.

"That's the spirit," Tai cheered happily and Sora giggled, reaching out to squeeze Matt's hand.

"Yeah," Sora murmured softly. Matt squeezed her hand back. Somehow, he felt with Sora and Tai by his side, he could have the courage to bring his friend back to the light. He wished there was more he could find out about the enemy but he knew it wasn't that easy.

"We can do this," Matt muttered, partly to reassure himself and partly Sora as well. Maybe if he said it enough, he would actually begin to believe it.


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay I know what you guys are thinking but believe it or not, I haven't forgotten this story, Uni was just trying to murder me and writer's block gets the best of us._

* * *

 **Chapter 09: Ray of Light**

After a good rest, the group headed out on MegaKabuterimon, searching both for their friends as well as Gatomon too. Kari was concerned and hoped her best friend was doing alright even if she couldn't be there with her. No, she would definitely break her out of the darkness no matter what. She had to believe in her. Gatomon had always believed in her when she was only eight in the first adventure and now when her friend needed her the most, she would do the same. Because that was what friends did for one another in different situations.

"Kari, you ok?" Tai asked her.

"I'm just worried about Gatomon and Agumon as well," Kari said softly. While she may be more worried about Gatomon, Agumon's situation wasn't any less alarming. Despite seeing so many enemies in their first and second adventure, The Hollow seemed to be on another level entirely. It astonished her how he could treat the digimon like tools to use and throw away as if they meant nothing at all.

"Me too," Tai admitted. "But our digimon need us more than ever. We'll bring our teams back together, you'll see."

Kari nodded, trying to believe in her big brother's words although it was harder to do than it looked because things had been hopeless before but their partners had never been separated from them like this. Her eyes caught sight of something. "Hey! I think I see Davis and the others!" She squinted her eyes but didn't need to as MegaKabuterimon picked up speed and the others came into view. She gripped Tai's arm as the bug like digimon descended a little too fast but luckily she didn't puke this time as she wasn't sick. As she came off of MegaKabuterimon, she looked at the looks on her friend's faces but what struck her the most was the usual dull expression on Davis's face. He didn't seem himself and that worried her the most. It wasn't like Davis to look so…she wasn't sure what the word was but having known him longer than the others, she knew one thing and that was that Davis was very energetic. Finally, they descended down, meeting with the others although they didn't seem in much better shape but Hawkmon, Veemon, Lunamon and Patamon all seemed to be with them, the most surprising of which was Patamon. Kari had expected Gatomon to be with him after all.

"Patamon," Kari said quietly, ignoring the others talking and catching up on what had happened and stepped towards the hamster digimon. "Where's Gatomon?"

Patamon shifted. "She led me to where Veemon and Wormmon were but then she left. I know where she is…but Kari, she won't listen to you right now."

"I have to try, Patamon," Kari said softly. "I won't give up on her, no matter how much she pushes me away. I know she's just hurting. She needs me."

Patamon sighed. "Can you make her and all of us understand why Gennai betrayed us like this? Why he would sacrifice us just to save his own life? We trusted Gennai and because of him, I nearly died. Had Gatomon hesitated, I'd probably be a Digiegg by now." He hadn't noticed everyone's attention had turned towards them now.

TK winced a bit at Patamon's words and moved over, kneeling down beside his best friend. "Maybe we can't reassure her of that but we can reassure her that we'd never do the same. She doesn't even have to trust us right away as long as she's willing to give us a chance." He reached out, pulling Patamon close. "You trust me don't you Patamon?"

"Of course I do," Patamon murmured. "It hurt what Gennai did and I was really scared I wouldn't get to see you again, TK. I owe my life to Gatomon. I want to help her too but she's so closed off…"

"Even so, we can't give up on her," Tai added softly, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder for comfort. "She's pulling away because she's afraid to trust but we need to make her see that we're different from Gennai, that we're not going to abandon her." He glanced at Davis, waiting for him to energetically back him up in that like he always did but to his surprise, Davis didn't even say a word in response which he was taken aback by. Davis and Veemon both were not acting like themselves and he made a mental note to ask Ken about once they had a spare moment.

Patamon sighed. "Alright. She won't be happy about this though. Everyone, make sure you're somehow holding onto TK and then I'll transport us to where she is."

The group moved around, each of them simultaneously grasping onto each other, till they were all in full circle and Patamon closed his eyes as they reappeared in another part of the forest.

Gatomon hissed, seeing everyone. "Patamon! I didn't ask you to drag along extra burdens. If you didn't want to come back with me, you could have stayed with them."

"Patamon didn't want to bring us," Kari said softly, having to force herself not to flinch at Gatomon's harsh words, knowing she was just hurting herself. "But if you think I'm just going to abandon you because you're pushing me away, you're mistaken Gatomon. You didn't search for me for this long for something like this to break us apart. Don't let Wizardmon's sacrifice to unite us be in vain, Gatomon." She moved closer even though she knew it was dangerous but somehow she was confident that Gatomon would never attack her unless it was in self-defence.

Gatomon jumped back, baring her claws towards Kari. "I don't care about anyone's sacrifices. I won't be helpless ever again."

Kari could feel the ripples of the water hit her legs and she felt Tai, TK and the others calling out to her, clearly concerned but she couldn't let fear control her. Davis and Yolei had told her it was okay to rely on others and even draw strength from them but right now, Gatomon needed her to be the strong one and for her digimon partner's sake, she would fight, no matter what it took.

"I won't let you be," Kari said softly. "But it's okay to rely on others, Gatomon."

Gatomon scoffed. "Relying on others nearly got my best digimon friend killed. Relying on myself saved his life so spare me the fake words, Kari."

"No, relying on the wrong person did," Kari corrected, moving closer even as the darkness attempted to push her backwards. "I won't ever betray you Gatomon."

"You're lying," Gatomon said. "Just like Gennai was. Just like all of them were. Friendship and loyalty is always shown in times of trouble. You weren't there. Neither were the rest of them." Her voice was as cold as ice and the darkness grew thicker, shooting towards Kari sending her stumbling to the ground. Kari winced as her knee scraped against the ground.

"Ok," Kari said quietly. "Don't forgive me then. But please give me a chance to prove myself Gatomon. We didn't know Gatomon. We didn't know what was happening in the digital world until our crests started fading. And until Gomamon appeared in the real world, we couldn't even find a way back. I know these probably all sound like excuses to you but believe me, they're not. I didn't know. None of us did." Impulse pulsated inside her and following her heart, she moved forward and pulled Gatomon close. Gatomon hissed and snarled, trying to break free but she held on tightly even as the darkness cut through her skin. Blood appeared on her clothes.

"Give it up," Gatomon hissed. "Why are you doing this? You won't be able to survive this darkness."

"As long as I'm with you, I can survive anything," Kari said softly, not wincing. It hurt of course as blood seeped from her wounds. "I won't give up on you, Gatomon. I never will…just like Wizardmon didn't, I won't either. No matter how much you push me away, I'll keep coming back for you."

Gatomon's eyes watered, her struggles ceasing a bit. "Why?"

"Because I love you Gatomon," Kari's voice was as gentle as a caress even through all the chaos and pain surrounding them. "I don't want to lose you, especially not to the darkness because I care about you. Remember what Yolei said, Gatomon? We're the light that wards away the darkness." She reached into her pocket, pulling out her faded crest. "The light of hope shines in our hearts. Gatomon, you didn't give up searching for me, you didn't let the light of hope fade from your eyes even after everything Myotismon put you through." Tears began to trail down her cheeks and slowly fell on the faded crest. "Please don't let everything have been for nothing. Please let me bring you back. Please let me fight for you, Gatomon. Please."

Tears began falling down Gatomon's cheeks, falling on the faded crest which was beginning to glow dimly. "I'm scared, Kari. I'm scared of being hurt again. I'm scared of my faith being broken again. I don't know how. Things seem so hopeless right now."

Kari managed a weak, shaky smile at her. "Do you remember the first adventure? We turned into bits of data, our crests were destroyed. I was scared. I was scared I'd never see Mom and Dad. I was scared we'd lose both each other and the whole world. But courage is moving forward when you're afraid. Hope is finding that ray of light no matter how hard it is. You don't have to do it alone, Gatomon. Together we can find a way back. You just need to trust me." They were both still crying and Gatomon curled closer into Kari's arms.

"I'm so sorry Kari," Gatomon said shakily. "I…just seeing that made me think back to those days when I was so helpless and alone. When unless I did something, nothing would ever get done. It felt like everything we had been through had been for nothing seeing Gennai do what he did."

"I understand," Kari said gently but before she could say more, the muddle of their tears that had fallen onto the faded crest had made the blackened piece of metal begin to glow brightly, causing the darkness to fade away and they were back in the forest.

"Kari!" Tai cried running forward and hugging her. "Where did you go and why are you glowing?"

Kari didn't reply as she was watching stunned how her Crest seemed to heal both her and Gatomon's injuries. Once it had stopped glowing, she allowed Gatomon to scurry down so she wouldn't be squished before returning her brother's hug.

"I had to reach out to the darkness in order to bring Gatomon back to the light," Kari said softly. "On that note, I have some good news." Her face was alit with more happiness than the others had seen from her since they had come to the digital world. "My Crest of Light is glowing again and Gatomon will be okay. It'll take awhile to get over Gennai's betrayal but we can do it together."

"That's really great Kari!" Yolei said beaming at her best friend happily. "You did great."

Patamon flew beside Gatomon. "Are you ok now Gatomon?"

Gatomon smiled at him, her normal, genuine smile. "No. But I will be with time." She hugged Patamon. "Thank you for staying by me even when I was being so difficult."

Patamon laughed. "You're my friend Gatomon. Besides, you saved my life. If it weren't for you, I'd be…"

Gatomon whacked Patamon's wing with her paw as TK flinched at those words. "Tact, Patamon."

"So where to now?" Kari asked her brother but before Tai could reply, Gatomon spoke up.

"Ken, Kari, Tai, can I speak to the three of you alone?" Gatomon asked and the three glanced at her curiously but she shook her head.

"Why do you need to do that?" Davis said finally speaking up. "Now that we have Gatomon, we should make a plan to save all the digimon from everything they've been through right?"

Gatomon sent Davis a surprisingly cold stare. "This is just as important. It'll only take a few minutes." With that, she moved a little further into the forest, hoping they would take the hint and follow her because she wanted more privacy.

* * *

As the sun shone into the room he was trapped in, Davis slowly opened his eyes. His body felt like something had ripped chunks of his body parts and cut them into tiny little pieces. He tried to move but it felt stiff. Tears cascaded down his cheeks as memories of the last few days flashed before him. He couldn't believe something this awful had happened to him and none of the others had come to save him. He could have forgiven them for not knowing the first time, but the times after that…they should have realized…

 _Maybe...maybe they really dont care_ … Being the holder of the DigiEgg of Friendship, he really shouldn't be so negative but after what he had been through, he wasn't sure. True friends would realise the difference between a real and a fake. Ken should have realized! They were DNA partners after all but nobody had. He supposed he should count his blessings that Erika had left him alone today but maybe the fact that he couldn't move around and was bleeding profusely got some mercy out of her. Or maybe they had done enough.

"They're not very good friends are they?" A small voice sounded out and Davis had to look around for a moment before finally settling on a small boy and a little creature – probably a digimon beside him.

"No," Davis said dully. "They're really not."

"Don't worry," The boy said cheerfully. "I'll take your pain away ok? I have the best medicinal cream that will make you feel better."

"You just need to lie down on your stomach," The creature added. Davis surveyed them both before shrugging and doing as they said. It felt nice having some company at least given the fact that he had been alone mostly other than Erika putting him through hell. He almost flinched at the boy's hands but the boy managed to calm him down by speaking in a soothing voice. He slowly relaxed as the cream did relieve his wounds and the pain he felt with it.

"What's your name?" Davis asked rubbing at his eyes in order to keep himself from thinking about his friends. They had failed him…even if they realized it now, what was the point? He had lost something very precious after all and things would never be the same again. He wasn't worthy of Kari's love anymore, he didn't deserve her. It wasn't as if she liked him anyway before but now, all chances of that were gone. There was no way she would want anything to do with him anymore.

"My name's Shion and this is my friend Calumon," The little boy said. "We've been trapped with these people for awhile now so we tend to heal the digimon that usually get trapped here too. We're pretty much experts at it now."

Davis did not smile at the energy exhibited from the boy. Smiling hurt too much especially when hope was lost. "I can see that…probably good since I don't know how long I'll be here."

Shion shrugged. "If someone loves you enough to save your soul, then not long hopefully. No one comes to rescue the digimon though so Calumon and I always patch them up."

"No one loves me enough to help me either so I'll probably be the same as those digimon," Davis said shutting his eyes because he didn't even want to think about those that had abandoned him. They hadn't even checked whether the real Davis was with them. Was he disposable? Was that the reason they couldn't tell the difference between a real and a fake? Friendship was a foolish emotion and courage…it didn't really exist. These were just silly illusions shown by the world but he knew better now. He didn't need any of them. He was alone anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

_Okay so everyone needs to thank Camp Nano for the sudden updates again but here we are so I hope you all enjoy this lovely chapter. Also, no, I don't think Sora is a liar but I do believe she's the type to repress her feelings for the sake of others._

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Shades of Grey**

Tai had to admit he was curious on what Gatomon had to tell them about Davis and why she was being so cold to him. He had been acting strange sure – but had he actually done something wrong? Once they were a bit further away from the group, he turned to the feline digimon.

"Gatomon what's going on?" Tai asked softly. "You were pretty cold to Davis back there. Did something happen that we don't know about?"

Gatomon sighed. "I don't have much faith in anything right now and you not realizing the truth back there, Ken made me feel further that friendship is just an illusion. Kari made me realise that isn't true but you failed Davis. You, TK, Yolei, Cody…all of you failed him when he needed you the most. The only reason Veemon played along was because the imposter could cause something worse to happen but once he's distracted, he's planning to…"

"Gatomon, slow down," Kari interrupted her partner. "You're not making much sense right now."

Gatomon exhaled a bit. "The real Davis is still trapped with Erika."

"What?" Ken said, eyes widening. "I mean I felt something was odd about Davis not wanting Veemon to fight and our heart beats not being in sync…was I right about that?"

"You managed to guess that much Ken," Gatomon said, sounding a little sad. "Yet you still escaped with the others?"

"Guys," Tai interrupted them both. "Who the hell is Erika and what in the digiworld is going on? We have enough problems without the two of you talking in riddles."

"Erika is a digimon-human hybrid creature," Ken said, his knuckles have become white upon Gatomon's words. "She said she was going to make sure that a miracle would never happen. She was really interested in Davis and when we were captured, she took him hostage. Veemon, Patamon and Gatomon freed Wormmon, Hawkmon and Lunamon and then helped free us. I thought Davis had somehow escaped on his own and was just shaken but…"

"That wasn't the real Davis," Gatomon continued. "After helping Patamon find Veemon and Wormmon, I left them to it because I really didn't want to work with the others and I caught sight of Erika with Davis. I overheard her telling Davis that no one would come to save them and about the imposter. I stayed and watched them for awhile…" She shut her eyes. "K-Kari, she…she raped him."

The reaction was instantaneous. Ken's hands had begun shaking while Kari's eyes filled with tears as she pulled Gatomon close for comfort. Tai, on the other hand sunk to his knees as he heard what had happened with Davis. _No, no, that kind of thing couldn't happen to Davis…I let him down, I should've been there, he needed me, he needed us and he's still there. He's still trapped there with her while we're here with this fake. I'm so sorry Davis. We'll save you I promise. No matter what._ He moved over, subconsciously wrapping an arm around his little sister and squeezing her shoulder.

"Gatomon," Tai said quietly. "If that's true, shouldn't we tell the others?"

"No, we can't let the imposter know that we know the truth," Gatomon said nuzzling Kari to comfort her. "Otherwise he may try and keep us from reaching Davis."

"Then what can we do?" Ken said voice soft although his expression and demeanor didn't quite match his look. He looked about ready to faint and he was clutching his unconscious partner so tightly that Tai was glad the little guy wasn't awake to feel discomfort from that.

"When we get back, we pretend we were talking about Davis and Erika but nothing about the impostor," Gatomon said softly. "Tai, we'll need to split up again but some of the group will need to lead the fake Davis away from here, maybe to search for the other missing digimon, I don't know but whatever happens, he can't get in the way or know what we're up to. We don't know how powerful he is yet after all but if he's anything like Erika, he won't be easy to deal with."

"I want to be with the group who goes to find Davis," Kari said softly having managed to stop crying for which Tai was glad. "I let him down once. I won't do it again."

Tai bit his lower lip. "I understand that Kari but he may not want you to see him in that state."

"And if I don't go, he may take it the wrong way," Kari pointed out gently. "He may think I've abandoned him even though it isn't his fault. His crush on me may have died but he's still one of my closest friends."

Tai sighed. "Alright. Let's head back then."

* * *

Ken trailed behind Tai and Kari, his gaze averted to the floor. What kind of best friend was he, not being able to tell a real from a fake? He didn't deserve to even be called Davis's best friend. Because he hadn't trusted his instincts – because he had dismissed his gut feeling, Davis had gone through hell. He had been raped – who knew how he was doing right now? But Tai and Kari were right too – this was no time to blame himself. He needed to be strong for Davis, like he had been strong for him many times in the past. He forced himself to pay attention, not wanting any of the others to become suspicious.

"What did Gatomon want to tell you guys?" Davis asked him and Ken managed a smile at the fake. He was a good actor after all and since they didn't want him to know what they knew, they needed to sound convincing.

"Gatomon had some information about Erika and the hybrids," Ken explained. "She was telling us a bit about the powers."

"Yeah, so some of the digimon are still missing," Tai took over, being the main leader at the moment. "While the ones we've found are in need of rest, well some of them at least. Patamon looks a lot better and Gatomon is too so TK and Kari will come with me to search for the others. Matt, Ken, Izzy, you'll come with me as well. The rest of you need to stay back in the village to help the digimon heal from their wounds and all."

"Tai, I want to come help save Palmon," Mimi insisted and Tai sighed, glancing at her.

"We're not going back to that place yet Mimi," Tai explained. "We aren't nearly prepared enough for that but not all of the digimon are captured so we're going to find the ones that aren't even if they aren't our own partners and all. The more help we can get against The Hollow, the better. I know how you feel Mimi. I'm worried about Agumon too and as much as I want to focus on him, this is all much bigger than him. I can't afford to be selfish about this otherwise saving Agumon could mean nothing if his world isn't safe."

Ken had to admire Tai saying that because he didn't think he would be able to make such a decision if Wormmon was in Agumon's position still but he had a feeling Davis would have been able to. Well, he supposed that's why they were the leaders after all.

"So we're supposed to sit here and do nothing?" Davis said, sounding a lot like the real Davis and Ken had to force himself to stay calm. They certainly had decent actors in their lot at least but he would have to play his role too – just like Tai and Kari were. His best friend's freedom might depend on it after all.

"You're not doing nothing Davis," Kari said turning to him. "All of us can't fight all the time and Ken told me you chose not to fight earlier since Veemon was too injured and you were shaken from whatever Erika did to you so don't you think it's better if you guys rest so when we have to fight the main enemy, The Hollow, you guys can be ready for it? Tai and the rest of us have caught a glimpse of this enemy and we can't go in unprepared. It's too dangerous so we need to be careful and be fully recovered." She turned towards Yolei who had been complaining as well and grasped her best friend's hand. "I know you hate sitting around and doing nothing but this is necessary right now. Trust me."

Ken saw the questions in everyone's eyes but was glad Yolei bit her tongue for once because they couldn't answer her questions in front of the fake Davis without leading to a bad situation so he was glad when Yolei nodded.

"Okay, just be careful you guys," Yolei said softly.

* * *

The groups separated then and the group that was resting gathered around in the village. Sora could see the distance between the digimon. Biyomon wouldn't talk to anyone and Hawkmon stuck close to Yolei while Gomamon was too quiet for his own good. Sora saw how downtrodden Joe looked and moved to sit by him.

"You ok?" Sora asked her friend, knowing he tended to worry a lot more than he always showed.

Joe managed a smile. "I don't know but I'm trying to be for everyone else. Even though I'm worried about how quiet Gomamon is, at least he's with me and not trapped somewhere. Seeing Mimi and the others so worried about their partners makes me thankful about that. But…sometimes I feel I failed him. That the reason my crest stopped glowing isn't only Gomamon but a part of it is me as well. I was never there for you guys. I wasn't even going to come to Tai's game and I never knew what was happening with Gomamon. A reliable friend should have…"

Sora bit her lower lip. She wanted to encourage Joe but similar doubts plagued her about her own Crest. While she was in a very happy relationship with Matt right now, his fangirls and general people who knew about their relationship were always going on about how she wasn't affectionate enough with Matt.

" _If we were dating that handsome lead singer, we'd shower him with affection every minute of the day and her…I've never even heard her say I love you to him in public, talk about arrogance."_

Could, like Joe said they be a reason themselves also for their Crests failing to shine? Matt always knew she loved him but she was never as openly expressive about her feelings towards him public but he wasn't either. Neither of them liked the attention and preferred to be a bit more subtle about their feelings and Sora had never understood the time when Tai had feelings for her so maybe Joe did have a point.

"Sora?" Joe said snapping her out of her thoughts. "Is everything ok?"

Sora realized Joe had been waiting for her to answer him and put a smile on her face, something she always did. His needs came before hers after all. "I don't think that's true at all, Joe. We're growing up, we have our own lives. Just because you have the Crest of Reliability doesn't mean you're not allowed to get busy or can't look at your own needs. I think the fading away of the Crests had more to do with the digimon than they did with us. I mean look at Kari and Gatomon. Once Kari was able to bring Gatomon out of the darkness, their Crest began to glow again so it seems to have to do more with them than it has to do with us."

Joe sighed. "I suppose you're right. Although Kari isn't really as open about her feelings either so who knows what was going on in her head?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, but let's not assume ok? And do the best we can." She gently stroked Biyomon's feathers as the digimon shifted closer to her, feeling a twinge of guilt. _I'm a liar. I want to evade responsibility that there could be something wrong with me. That while my issues with Mom have faded away, I still have trouble expressing my feelings._ It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose but Joe needed the reassurance. She could deal with her own feelings about this later. Now wasn't the time.

"Don't do that, Sora," Biyomon said too quiet for Joe to overhear.

Sora blinked. "Do what?"

"It's alright to have trouble with love," Biyomon said quietly. "It's okay to have doubts. You don't have to tell anyone but I can tell. I don't really believe in love anymore but if Matt's anything like his partner, he probably doesn't love you. Gabumon doesn't love anyone after all. Other than himself."

Sora had to wince at Biyomon's words about Gabumon but also felt a bit lighter that she had noticed her thoughts. "True love does exist Biyomon. I promise. I know you don't think so right now but I know Matt loves me."

Biyomon just nodded. "If he does, he'll know. Don't hide how you feel from him. If we were all more honest with one another, we wouldn't have so many problems."

Sora hated to see her digimon in such distress so she continued to stroke her feathers gently. "I'll be honest with him, Biyomon. I promise." It wouldn't be easy but in order to help Biyomon believe and for herself, she would try to express her feelings to Matt. It wasn't that she didn't think he would understand, more that she had no idea where to even begin.


	11. Chapter 11

_Okay, so another chapter of Fade Away. Honestly, I totally adore writing both these stories and I thank Camp Nanowrimo for giving me the option to write so much of this. Thank you heaps to_ _ **coolgamer**_ _and_ _ **Magykol**_ _for helping me with this chapter. I appreciate it guys, thanks._

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Fractured Courage**

Ken was leading the way since they were the ones that had come from there although naturally TK, Izzy and Matt were quite confused regarding the whole situation.

"I thought we were going to look for the missing digimon," Matt pointed out as they walked. "What's going on guys?"

"We're going to save Davis," Tai said firmly. "The Davis back there is a fake and the real Davis is hurt."

"A fake?" Izzy questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Like a clone?"

"Yes, Izzy, a clone," Tai said nodding. "A Digimon-Human hybrid named Erika has Davis captured and this clone is her ally."

TK narrowed his eyes. "I knew it seemed a little too simple that we were able to escape so easily. They let us get away, so we wouldn't suspect anything off about the clone."

"Yeah," Ken said quietly. "But if we let the fake Davis suspect that we knew something, he may have tried to stop us, and we know these creatures are powerful, so we can't risk him finding out."

"So, the plan that we were going to find the other digimon was a decoy," Izzy mused. "That was genius, Tai."

Tai smiled a bit. "Thanks Izzy. I just didn't want anything delaying us in saving Davis. We've already let him down enough." His face fell into a frown as he looked down. Matt reached out, clasping him by the shoulder.

"It's not your fault," Matt said firmly. "You didn't know. You couldn't have known."

"Davis will be okay," Kari said softly. "We need to show we're still there for him like we've always been." She knew she would have to be strong for Davis just like she had been for Gatomon and she would do it. She had to for all their sakes and because Davis might not have the courage to be strong right now. He had gathered his courage for her once, now she had to do the same for him. It wasn't going to be easy but nothing they had ever done had ever been easy.

"Kari's right," T.K. said softly. "He's going to need us. Patamon, I know you and Gatomon are tired but Pegasusmon and Nefertimon may be able to get us there quicker."

"I don't mind," Patamon agreed but Tentomon cut through him, shaking his head.

"I can take everyone as Kabuterimon," Tentomon offered and Izzy frowned a bit.

"You're still tired from the last journey though," Izzy said softly. "I think Pegasusmon and Nefertimon may be the best for it at this rate. Once we get out of there, they can rest, and you can take over so we don't put the burden on one of us only. Is that ok, Patamon and Gatomon?"

Patamon and Gatomon both nodded their agreement while T.K. and Kari raised their digivices.

"Digiarmour energise," T.K. and Kari said together.

"Patamon armour-digivolve to…Pegasusmon! Flying Hope!"

"Gatomon armour-digivolve to…Nefertimon! The Angel of Light!"

Ken and Matt joined T.K. on Pegasusmon while Tai and Izzy joined Kari on Nefertimon. It took them awhile, but they managed to reach the place. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon resumed their Rookie forms.

"Kari and Ken, you two search for Davis," Tai said clenching a fist and stepping to block the path so the evil digimon army that had surrounded them couldn't block their way. "TK and Izzy, you two will need to hold off for as long as you can. I know it won't be easy and I know Tentomon is still tired, Izzy but for Davis's sake, you need to do this."

Izzy exchanged a look with Tentomon who looked determined and he finally nodded reluctantly, raising his digivice as Tentomon once again took the form of MegaKabuterimon. Kari watched, worried for a moment even as Patamon digivolved to Angemon until Ken grasped her hand. That was when she snapped out of it and the two of them ran, with Gatomon sniffing around to sniff out which room Davis was in.

Kari felt her knuckles turn white and she had to admit she was nervous about what they would find. Davis had been through hell after all and he was one of the strongest people she knew. She could tell Ken was scared too and finally came to the room but surprisingly they didn't need to break in as the door was opened by a little boy and a digimon whom they weren't familiar with.

"You're Kari, aren't you?" The boy said softly. "I'm Shion! Davis talks lots about you even though he thinks you don't love him anymore!"

Kari blinked at the strange looking smile on the boy – Shion's – face. It seemed the kid was just happy go lucky but upon closer inspection, the smile seemed to be there more out of habit than anything. However, she pushed that thought aside and stepped forward.

"Where is Davis? Is he ok?" Kari asked, biting her lower lip.

Shion giggled. "You ask silly questions! Calumon and I told Erika he was still too injured for her playing right now but come on in."

Kari glanced at Ken who was far too pale for it to be considered normal and gave his hand a friendly squeeze. She could understand how he was feeling right now. "Come on. I know it's hard, but he needs us to be strong right now."

Ken nodded in agreement. "You're right. He needs us to be strong for him." His voice was quiet and steady but there was a slight tremor to it as if he were trying to control his own emotions.

The two of them entered the room and Kari had to force back tears at how frail Davis looked, wrapped in a white robe and huddled in a corner.

"Davis?" Kari said softly, and the boy shifted, opening his eyes causing a shiver to run down Kari's spine. He looked at her as if he were staring right through her. The eyes that were usually sparkling with such fire were lifeless and empty. She forced herself to walk forward although each step she took felt as if she were carrying a heavy weight that made it hard for her to walk but she continued to do so.

"Kari," Davis croaked out. "Go away. Turn around and leave."

Kari stopped in her tracks, gaping at him for a moment, unsure of what to say when Ken stepped beside her.

"We're not leaving you," Ken said softly. "Not this time."

Davis scoffed. "Yeah, right. A real best friend would have known."

The remaining color drained from Ken's face and he let go of Kari's hand averting his gaze to the floor, clearly unable to muster a response for that. Kari glanced at him, feeling bad for leaving him like this but Davis needed her more right now.

"You're right, Davis," Kari said quietly. "We should have known. We should have realized the difference between a real and a fake. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we let you down. I'm sorry I let you down. You're always there for me, Davis. When I'm sad, when I'm down, when I need to know I'm not alone, you're always here. And yet when you needed me the most, I wasn't there. Saying sorry won't take away your pain I know but I want to help you." She moved closer to Davis and held out her hand. "Please let me help you, Davis. Let me be your savior this time like you've always been mine."

Davis didn't move to take her hand which made Kari's heart clench because in any normal situation, he would have been ecstatic that he meant so much to her but right now he didn't even respond at first.

"You're wrong," Davis said dully. "I've never been your savior. You were always mine. You became my friend when no one else wanted to play with me. But you can't save me this time, Kari. I'm too damaged. It's too late. Just go."

"No," Kari said, firmer now and she almost felt as if her brother's courage had possessed her for a moment which surprised even herself because she was usually such a pacifist most of the time. "I refuse to believe that. It's never too late. As long as we're breathing, I believe I can save you. I believe we can save you. I won't give up on you."

"You have to live, Davis," Ken added, finally finding his voice again. "Even if you don't want to, you have to live because there are too many people who would be sad to see you like this. You must go on. Even though I failed you, even though we've all failed you, you can't give up. If I leave without trying to make you come with me, I'll regret it always."

Kari smiled a bit; glad Ken had gotten the courage to speak up again no matter how much Davis's taunt had hurt him. Davis looked between both for a moment before reaching out a shaking hand to grasp Kari's outstretched one. Kari tightened her grip around it and it seemed like Davis was still very weak because he passed out then and she reached out to steady him, Ken reaching out to help her. She exchanged a look with Ken and knew they were both thinking the same thing. It was going to take a long time for Davis to become himself again, but they wouldn't give up on him until it happened.

* * *

TK watched as Angemon fought and wished he could digivolve further, so he could fight better as MegaKabuterimon was struggling to hold off such a gigantic army on his own because no matter how strong a Champion level digimon was, an Ultimate level always held more strength.

"Angemon!" TK cried hurrying over to his partner's side as he was thrown back, de-digivolving back to Patamon.

"Tai, we cannot hold off for much longer," Izzy said as MegaKabuterimon shielded TK and Patamon. "We need another plan."

"It's okay, you don't need to anymore," Tai assured, and TK turned to glance at Kari and Ken coming back supporting Davis between them and chills ran down his spine at the emptiness in Davis's eyes. It looked as if his friend was staring straight through them and that made TK shiver, but he was distracted by the army retreating. That was odd – why would they retreat now?

"Something isn't right," TK said firmly, holding Patamon close. "It's almost like they want us to escape."

"Your little brother is rather intelligent isn't he Matt?" Another man appeared in the area, jet black hair and emerald green eyes that were as cold as ice.

TK frowned, making to ask on who that was but his brother suddenly moved forward, shielding him protectively.

"Katsuya," Matt said quietly, and TK didn't like the dullness in his brother's voice. The utter lack of emotion he had when he said this person's name – just who was he anyway?

"Niichan," TK said softly as Tai stepped beside Matt. "Who is he? What does he want?"

The person – Katsuya – laughed at TK's question as well as the dullness in Matt's voice. "I'm hurt you haven't told your friends about me, Matt. After all I did for your little brother."

TK frowned at this person and reached over, gripping his brother's hand firmly. He didn't know why but this person was giving him a bad feeling – a feeling he didn't like at all which was proven correct when Matt flinched at Katsuya's words.

"You only did what you did for your own sake," Matt said in the same dull voice. "I knew that even then, but I couldn't take the risk anyway. What do you want? Why are you here in the digital world?"

"And what the hell do you want with Matt?" Tai said finally losing patience before TK could snap at this person. It was good Tai had beat him to it because he felt a strong urge to give this person a few punches no matter how much he got hurt in return.

Katsuya chuckled. "Right now, I'm here for Matt although seeing him was certainly a pleasant surprise. Erika sent me to distract you lot. You see, it's not the right time for Miracles to escape. The experiment is incomplete after all."

Kari glowered at Katsuya. "We're going to take Davis with us. I won't allow you to hurt him any longer."

Katsuya rolled his eyes. "How noble of you. I could allow you to take the Holder of Miracles with you, but everything has a price you know. Nothing in the real world or the digital world for that matter comes free. You can take him with you if Matt agrees to stay back in his place."

Tai snarled, and TK bristled in fury, his grip tightening on his brother's hand knowing how reckless he could be when it came to his friends.

"Like hell," TK said firmly. "I don't know what's going on with you and my brother but I'm smarter than people think, and I know you've hurt him somehow. I won't let you hurt him again!"

"What TK said," Tai agreed pulling Matt back who looked ready to murmur out an agreement in his dull tone. "Dude, I'm meant to be the reckless one, not you."

"But Davis needs to heal," Matt said firmly. "Look at him, Tai. He's hurt. Not just physically but mentally as well. I have to do what I can."

"No, you don't Matt," Kari said quietly and her and Ken exchanged a glance, causing him to nod in agreement as Gatomon moved to Kari's side as well.

"If Erika doesn't want Davis to leave, we won't," Ken said quietly. "But Kari and I will stay with him as well as Gatomon. Does your Erika accept that?" He spat the name Erika out as if it were the word 'poison' as he glowered at Katsuya.

Katsuya chuckled. "Oh, she'll be fine with that! She loves a good challenge and she finds the Bearer of Light rather interesting after all."

TK frowned, not sure this was much better and stepped towards Kari. "Kari, this is dangerous, she could hurt you."

Tai also shook his head. "TK's right. We're all going to get out of here. Izzy, do you have a way we can all go?"

Izzy hesitated. "The only way we could do that is if we fight but everyone's exhausted so I cannot be sure how long they would last in a fight."

Tai frowned. "Kari…" He didn't want to leave her but giving Matt up wasn't an option either. It wasn't that he didn't trust her but…this was dangerous. However, he had no idea what else he could do either. "Kari, you go back with the others. I can stay with Ken and Davis."

Kari shook her head. "Matt needs you right now, Tai. Look at him. You need to get him back to Sora."

Tai bit his lower lip. "But what about you?"

Kari smiled softly. "It's okay. I have Gatomon to look out for me and Davis would hate it if someone else got hurt because of him. Protect Matt ok?" She glanced at Matt who Tai pulled back even further away from Katsuya, levelling him with a glare.

TK hesitated then glanced at Ken. "Take care of her ok? She can be as reckless as her brother when loved ones are threatened."

Ken managed a weak laugh as Kari huffed a little. "I will, don't worry. We'll be alright. I promise."

TK finally nodded before glancing at Davis, his heart churning at how his friend looked. Looking so hopeless did not suit him and he wished there was more he could do but right now, he needed to make sure the same thing did not happen to his brother. He walked back over to Matt and took his hand causing his brother to send him a weak smile that clearly did not reach his eyes but pushing that thought aside, he raised his D-3 to evolve Patamon into Pegasusmon again.

"Let's go," Tai said, moving to climb onto Kabuterimon's back along with Izzy and glancing at Kari and Ken. "Be careful you guys."

"You too, Tai," Kari said gently waving her brother away with her free hand as she and Ken started to take Davis back into the room, so they could have him rest.


	12. Chapter 12

_So writing long stories can be tough and exhausting sometimes to be honest. Not that I don't like writing this story but I have to admit, thanks to everyone's support, this story has gotten to be even better. Thank you so much to_ _ **coolgamer, Magykol**_ _and_ _ **Nocturne of Eclipse**_ _for betareading this chapter! Yes, I have 3 different eyes looking at this which may seem silly but I don't want grammar errors to take away from the effort I put into this story._

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Passionate Fire**

Yolei stretched as she looked out into the desolation that was the digital world. She knew she was fidgeting but she couldn't help it. Sitting around had never been one of her greatest strengths especially not while her friends were out there fighting but it felt as if they had no choice. Things were a lot different right now, after all.

"Yolei?" Cody's voice intercepted her thoughts and she was surprised he was awake. Then again, they hadn't found Armadillomon yet, so her friend was probably a lot more worried than he was letting on since he didn't talk about his feelings that much.

"What's up Cody?" Yolei asked, expression softening as she turned to regard her best friend. "Can't sleep?"

Cody sighed a little. "I'm trying. But Armadillomon's still out there somewhere…I don't know if he's been captured or in hiding but I feel so useless. I can't do anything for him."

"That's not true, Cody," Yolei said firmly. "You're anything but useless. I know we haven't found Armadillomon yet but I'm sure we will! We must and there's no way he can stay away from you for long. If he's captured, Tai and the others will rescue him and if he isn't, then we'll find him. I promise you, Cody. We're going to get him back and we'll manage to save the digital world too." She clenched a fist. She knew they would find a way but what she wasn't telling Cody was the fact that it may not be as easy as it was before when they were kids. Yes, they were older and smarter but the villains they were facing seemed to be more strategic than what they faced before.

"I hope you're right, Yolei," Cody said solemnly. "I don't like feeling this way. I'm not getting a good feeling. It's like Oikawa all over again."

Yolei opened her mouth to reply and reassure him not to worry when her D-3 began glowing brightly and beeping. She took it out and it created a path in a seemingly random direction from where they were. There was something there. She could feel it, like something was calling her. Rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleep, she stood up. "Hawkmon!"

Hawkmon flew over to her. "What is it Yolei?"

Yolei shook her head, for once not able to find the words to explain. "Forward." Those were the only words that left her mouth as she followed the light.

"Yolei!" Cody called, running beside her and taking her hand in his own. "Shouldn't we at least tell Davis we're going? Because if you're going, I'm going to come with you." He gave her hand an insistent tug causing her to stop momentarily and look at Cody, her eyes looking as if she were in some sort of trance.

"Cody, it's dangerous," Yolei said softly, looking at him seriously. "I don't want you to get hurt and I don't have time to wake Davis up. I need to go." She tried to pull away, but Cody held firm, shaking his head.

"No," Cody said firmly. "I'm coming. Whether you tell Davis or not."

Yolei sighed. She knew her best friend could be stubborn, and she really didn't want to waste time arguing with him right now. The call was getting stronger after all and she needed to go. She needed to see what it was and if Cody wanted to come, she couldn't exactly stop him from doing so. "Fine. Come with me then. I really don't want to argue right now." She didn't try to pull away from Cody and continued walking.

Hawkmon flew beside her, recovered enough to fly. "Yolei, where are you going? At least say something."

Yolei didn't stop walking as she began to talk. "I feel like something is pulling me towards it. Sort of like when I got the Digieggs of Love and Sincerity but stronger than that. Maybe…like Davis has the Crest of Miracles, I have one too? I could be completely off base, but I have to see at least."

Hawkmon sighed. "I understand. I just hope we aren't walking into a trap. It's a good thing I'm a lot better now and can digivolve in case something happens."

Cody bit his lower lip and squeezed Yolei's hand. "Kari's going to be upset with you for being so reckless though."

Yolei laughed. "Probably." They had come a fair bit away from the place they were camping out and were surrounded by a lot of broken branches and digital blood on the floor. The site made her a bit queasy, but she forced herself to focus. If she did have a Crest, maybe she would be more of a help than she was right now. The digital world was dangerous right now, common sense said to stay back and wait for the others, but she couldn't. It just wasn't in her to do that – to wait, while the others were fighting. Kari would probably be a bit worried or upset if something did end up happening to them. They came across a small cave in the middle of nowhere, at least that was what it felt like, but she moved forward anyway, seeing a strange symbol carved on the wall.

"Is this the symbol of a crest?" Yolei wondered, looking at Hawkmon who looked as if he had been stunned into silence, but he quickly snapped out of it when he heard his partner speak.

"It's the symbol of Passion," Hawkmon admitted to her. "But something isn't right…"

"No kidding," Yolei huffed, gaining a bit of her old spark. "The actual Crest is missing."

"Very astute," A female voice said with a giggle and a digimon appeared. She looked like the female version of Dracula, with long flowing blonde hair, blood-red lips and sharp fangs leaving her mouth, two of them as she licked her lips.

"Who is that?" Cody asked as Yolei tensed, glowering at the vampire lady that had appeared.

"Name's Vampiricmon, dearies!" The digimon said with a giggle. "And unfortunately, Katsuya-sama would not be pleased if you simply managed to take that Crest back from us!" She raised her claw-like arms in their direction. "Nightly Shade!" A swarm of darkness headed in their direction but Yolei quickly raised her digivice.

"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquillamon!"

Aquillamon managed to block the attack but just barely. Clearly, Vampiricmon was a lot stronger than she looked to be honest which was not a good thing and Yolei had no idea what level she was at. She tugged Cody behind her. This was all her fault – she shouldn't have rushed in, but the call was so strong. She also could not help but feel annoyed that these creeps had her crest! Who did they think they were, taking away her crest like that? It was hers, after all!

However, she nearly jumped up in the air when a strange digging sound caught her and Cody's attention while Aquillamon attempted to distract Vampiricmon.

"What was that?" Yolei asked Cody.

* * *

"What was that?"

When Yolei asked the question, Cody had no clue how to answer but he had a feeling he knew what that was. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he could feel it. He stepped forward towards the sound. "Armadillomon?"

"Cody!" Yolei suddenly tackled them both out of the way of an oncoming blast as Aquillamon couldn't shield them both in time. Cody coughed, wincing as he realized he had scraped his elbow at the sudden landing and hitting the ground but tried to focus on what he was searching for and stood up again, moving around again.

"It's ok, Armadillomon," Cody spoke again. "I know it must have been hard for you in the digital world, but I promise nothing is going to hurt you. I'm here." He tried to sound as genuine as he could, knowing his partner was around somewhere but was hiding underground. Another digging noise came and this time Armadillamon came out of the ground, his gaze averted.

"Cody…" Armadillomon murmured looking so downhearted that Cody's heart clenched. He hated seeing anyone in pain especially his dear friend and partner. He ignored the sounds of the battle around him, tuning it out to focus on his best friend and him alone. He moved forward, pulling the digimon into a hug.

"Hey," Cody said softly. "It's okay. Everything's okay now, I promise. I'm here, Armadillomon."

Armadillomon shifted closer into Cody's arms. "I'm sorry Cody. I'm nothing without you. I was scared so I kept digging tunnels to hide in. I don't deserve to be chosen."

Cody shook his head. "No, Armadillomon. Things were bad, and you wouldn't be able to do much if you were captured. Keeping yourself safe until we got here was the smart thing to do." Of course, helping your friends was a good thing but they were at their best when they worked together and without him, Armadillomon wouldn't have been able to digivolve and he might have been captured too.

Armadillomon frowned. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Of course, I'm not," Cody said honestly. "You were smart not getting yourself caught like that because we need as many allies as we can get right now." He hugged his best friend even closer before flinching as his attention was caught by Aquillamon crashing to the ground, de-digivolving back to Hawkmon. "Do you think you can digivolve Armadillomon?"

Armadillomon managed a weak smile. "With you, I can do anything."

Cody smiled, raising his D-3. "Digiarmour energise!"

"Armadillomon armour-digivolve to…Digmon: The Drill of Knowledge!"

Digmon made to distract Vampiricmon while Cody ran over to Yolei who had gathered Hawkmon into her arms.

"I'm sorry Cody," Yolei said looking guilty. "I was too impulsive again, but I just really wanted to find my Crest…" She trailed off and Cody shook his head.

"Don't worry about that," Cody said quickly, glancing at Digmon and Vampiricmon fighting against each other. "Although I don't think we'll be able to beat her like this. I can get Digmon to dig us a tunnel and we can make our escape for now. We'll find a way to get your crest back from the enemy, don't worry."

Yolei nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry." She hugged Hawkmon closer to her, wincing a bit as Digmon skidded back.

Cody waved to get Digmon's attention. "Digmon! We need to retreat!"

"Right Cody!" Digmon agreed. He grabbed them protectively and jumped back. Cody clung to his partner as Digmon went a little too underground, it made him feel a bit nauseous but hopefully now, Vampiricmon would not be able to follow them.

* * *

A dim-lit atmosphere was what awaited Wormmon when he opened his eyes and he realized he was being held near someone because it felt warm as well. It took him blinking a few times for him to realize where he was but once his eyesight had adjusted to the surroundings, he realized Ken had been holding him. When did Ken get here? What was going on? Had the beatings taken such a toll on him that he was hallucinating? No, but you couldn't feel hallucinations, at least that was what Ken had always said.

"Wormmon?" Ken's kind, gentle voice snapped the little worm out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

It sounded like Ken too, but the gates had been closed for so long and Gennai had betrayed them, so how was it possible that they had found their way here?

"Are…are you real?" Wormmon asked quietly. "Is it really you, Ken-chan?"

Ken sighed, hugging Wormmon closer gently. "Of course, it's me. I'll always come when you need me, Wormmon. I'm sorry it took me so long, but the gates were closed and if Gomamon hadn't come to the real world…"

Wormmon wanted to believe Ken, he wanted to believe they were saved now that the Chosen Children had come back to the digital world, but he honestly didn't know how to. It felt too good to be true, but Ken was right in front of him and hallucinations usually did not radiate such warmth like Ken was radiating it right now. He really was here. A few tears appeared in his eyes and they watered.

"You're really here, Ken-chan," Wormmon whispered. "I really thought I'd never see you again. They were so cruel, Ken-chan. They said I was a traitor…so they…they beat me every day. Veemon would give me water and food, even if he didn't get to eat or drink himself. He was the only one who was kind to me…so…so at first, I felt he was just faking too like everyone else. I kept pushing him away, but he never let go."

"Oh Wormmon," Ken murmured softly, gently cuddling him and Wormmon leaned in closer to the touch, not even noticing Kari and Gatomon smiling at the scene between the two of them.

"I'm sorry Ken-chan," Wormmon whispered softly.

"Don't be," Ken said kindly. "I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you again. We'll stop this evil, Wormmon. But we can't do it without you." His smile disappeared, and his expression darkened a little bit. "You helped stop the Digimon Emperor, Wormmon. You can help us stop this evil too."

It was Wormmon's turn to nuzzle Ken comfortingly. "The Digimon Emperor was just misguided, not ruthless. The Hollow on the other hand…it's pure evil. No one even knows whether it's human or digimon, but it's ruthless. It really wants Omnimon and Imperialdramon on its side. It's already captured Agumon too though I'm not sure about Gabumon."

Ken nodded. "Yeah, we know Agumon's been captured but Gabumon hasn't been…I think?" He glanced at Kari who shrugged.

"Gabumon wasn't there in any of the cells, so that's what we assume," Kari admitted quietly. "Although given Wormmon and Veemon weren't there either, they might be somewhere else."

Wormmon blinked, noticing Kari, Gatomon and Davis for the first time since he had woken up. He really was out of it, then again, given everything he supposed it wasn't really a surprise.

"There are multiple prison cells in the digital world," Wormmon explained. "But the main one is monitored by The Hollow itself and all its prized slaves end up there eventually after they're broken. It's why Gennai switched sides too because no one can really stand up to The Hollow to be honest and if he cooperates with The Hollow, his life is secure for now at least."

Kari pulled Gatomon into her arms as she hissed at the mention of Gennai. "I honestly never expected Gennai to show such cowardice, but I suppose in these conditions, you can expect anything from anyone." She gently brushed her fingers through the unconscious Davis's hair.

Wormmon nodded. "Yeah…I just hope we can win this time."

"We will," Ken promised softly. "I know you're scared right now, Wormmon but as long as we're together, we're going to find a way to win."

Wormmon nodded. If Ken-chan could be confident enough to believe in that, he would try as well.


	13. Chapter 13

_Okay so my Microsoft Word has been acting up lately for some bizarre reason which is annoying but meh life goes on. I'll write as much as I can, even without it. Thank you_ _ **coolgamer, Magykool**_ _and_ _ **Nocturne of Eclipse**_ _for betareading this chapter. It was one of my favorites to write and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it._

* * *

 **Chapter 13: What Hurts the Most**

Agumon shifted, opening his eyes as a sharp pain shot down his spine and nausea filled inside his body. His head was throbbing as he squirmed against the hands that were holding him, knowing while they were familiar, they were no longer friendly.

"Agumon..." The voice murmured softly. "Please you need to relax. You're hurt."

Agumon snorted and it wasn't like him to be so cynical, but could anyone really blame him? "What does it matter to you Palmon? You're safe, aren't you? That's what you wanted." He shut his eyes. This wasn't like him, he knew that, but he just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to be held by Tai and sleep in his arms where he was safe, rather than go back to where he was being experimented on.

"Agumon," Palmon whimpered out. "I didn't want this. I never wanted to hurt you, but The Hollow is too strong. He wanted Omnimon and I didn't want to be treated the way you guys were. I hated hurting you Agumon!"

Agumon wanted to believe Palmon but given her actions in the past few weeks, her basically selling him out to be experimented on made him think otherwise. He didn't look at her. "It doesn't matter what you wanted anymore, Palmon. You could have helped me, but you didn't just watch. You gave me over to him, knowing what he would do. You're still helping him right now." Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes, but he blinked them back. He wasn't going to cry in front of her. This wasn't the same digimon who was his friend. This was a digimon who only cared for her own safety and wellbeing. He wouldn't show that kind of weakness around her.

"I...what do you want me to say Agumon?" Palmon asked. "I don't know if I believe that Mimi and the others can save this world this time. The Hollow is nothing even close to what they've faced before. Even if they were after me or Biyomon or Tentomon, we would never be as big of targets as Omnimon and Imperialdramon."

Agumon snorted. "And you really think you'll survive if he gets Omnimon? Or Imperialdramon? Honestly...I thought you were smarter than that, Palmon." He coughed, his body still extremely weak from being caught in those tubes for so long so it was hard for him to even really talk right now. "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"The Hollow says he's done experimenting on you for the time being," Palmon admitted. "He's gotten the information he needed. I got some food for you. He wants you to eat it."

Agumon frowned. The Hollow wanted him to eat? That didn't sound right. After all the beatings and experimentation, why was that creature suddenly showing him mercy? He opened his eyes and stared at Palmon in the eyes. "Why? Why does he want me to eat?"

Palmon averted her gaze. "You should be glad he's showing mercy, Agumon. Why are you questioning it?"

Agumon scoffed. "Oh, I'm sorry Palmon. This creature has beaten, starved and experimented on me without remorse so forgive me if I don't think there's an ulterior motive to this. There is, isn't there?"

Palmon still wouldn't look at him. "I'm not allowed to answer your questions. But Tai wouldn't want you to starve yourself, Agumon!"

"Shut up," Agumon hissed and if he wasn't so exhausted, he would be yelling but the fury and hurt lingered in his tone greatly. "Tai wouldn't want me to starve myself, yeah but since when do you care about what Tai wants? Heck, you don't even care about Mimi. Mimi is one of the kindest humans ever and you've really let her down." He coughed more. "You're not sincere, Palmon. Not with me, not with her and not even with yourself. Let me go." He coughed. "Palmon. Let me go."

"...You won't be able to walk," Palmon said meekly. "Agumon, just let me carry you to the room. You can rest then."

"I said, let me go," Agumon snapped. "For god's sake Palmon, I don't even want to see you right now." He relaxed a bit as the plant digimon listened and let him down. He nearly collapsed though as he really couldn't walk but he wouldn't seek help from the digimon who still didn't care about him. He leaned against the wall and managed to take slow, careful steps towards the resting room although each step he took felt like something had stabbed him sharply in the abdomen. It was all he could do not to start screaming and his eyes watered but he pushed back his tears. He was still in enemy territory after all and it was clear that Tai was really the only one who had ever cared about him. If he wanted to survive here, he needed to remember that.

* * *

Tai did not feel so good about leaving his sister, Davis and Ken back there, but she could be stubborn as a rock sometimes and she did have a point. Honestly, did she have to use logic that was hard to argue with? He glanced back at Matt who walked silently and despite TK holding his brother's hand in a slightly loose grip, Matt didn't even seem to notice TK's presence. This made Tai frown. If there was anyone who could make Matt smile even in the darkest of times, it was TK with his endless optimism although Sora was good at it too.

"Tai, are you alright?" Izzy asked him, and Tai blinked a bit, turning to look at his good friend watching him in slight concern.

Tai shook his head. "Not really. I didn't like leaving Kari back there. I know Gatomon will look out for her but still."

"Kari will be fine, Tai," Izzy said softly. "She wants to help Davis, but she doesn't want you to abandon Matt when he needs you. There has been way too much of that lately."

"Yeah, especially for poor Agumon," Tentomon said sadly. "He looked devastated when Palmon sold him out even though she looked like she really regretted it."

"Tentomon, tact," Izzy chided, looking more than a little exasperated with his partner and Tai managed a weak laugh despite the situation.

"It's cool, Izzy," Tai assured his friend knowing Tentomon had a point. It had hurt him more than anything that Palmon had betrayed Agumon the way she had but he knew it had to be much worse for his Digital Partner who had lived through it. He knew there would need to be a lot of healing when he managed to save Agumon. They were walking through the forest again, although the trees that had been there earlier were no longer there and all they could see was darkness.

"The digital world is getting worse by the minute," Matt murmured, finally speaking up although his voice was still dull. "It was only this bad when the Dark Masters were around, and they were tough to beat despite us all being a team."

Tai frowned at his best friend. "We're still a team, Matt."

"We are," Matt agreed easily enough. "But our digimon aren't. None of them really trust each other. Patamon and Gatomon do due to all they've been through but the rest of them don't. Gabumon betrayed Biyomon to save himself and Palmon sold Agumon out."

"We'll find a way to bring them together," TK said squeezing Matt's hand while Tai had to admit Matt had a point of the digimon being scattered in their unity but then he thought something.

"TK's right," Tai said softly before adding "Besides, we weren't that united when the Dark Masters took over. Our team fell apart for a short period of time but wasn't it the digimon who brought us back together? From what Mimi tells me, Gomamon and Palmon convinced her and Joe to help us because we would lose our friends either way whether they fought or not. Gabumon convinced you that you were needed. My point is, we were scattered then and they brought us together so if they're scattered now, can't we try and do the same for them?" He locked eyes with Matt before looking to TK and slowly moving his gaze to the rest of them.

Izzy smiled. "You're absolutely right, Tai. They've always been there for us."

Matt nodded in agreement. "Yeah...sorry, we have to try before we start thinking like that. Maybe I should take a leaf out of TK's book and have a little more hope."

Tai chuckled a bit at that. "Yeah you could use some of that ne TK?" He rolled his eyes playfully.

TK smiled. "He can have hope when he really tries." He tilted his head to the side with a soft smile. "We're going to help the digimon and save this world."

"What TK said," Tai said, agreeing with the younger boy completely. Sure, he was worried about Agumon and worried on whether he'd be able to trust anyone again, but he'd support his best friend in no matter what decision he took. If he didn't want to be near the others, he'd become a shield between Agumon and the rest of them until his partner was ready to trust them again. He blinked and looked around. "It's so dark that I'm not really sure where we are though. Izzy, any ideas?"

Izzy was typing into his computer furiously. "Not yet, but I am attempting to find a path to our main site as we speak. It seems as if the darkness in this world is getting thicker though as we speak."

"Betrayal is one of the biggest forms of darkness, after all," A familiar voice spoke, and Tai could feel the tension in the air rise as formerly one of their good friends appeared before them, Gennai. He had been such a huge help in both their adventures but right now, there was no positive aura coming from him.

"Is that why you betrayed us?" Izzy said in a very calm voice, but Tai could tell his friend was angry but unlike Tai, himself, Izzy had a lot more self-restraint than he ever could, no matter how old he got. Even now, his fists clenched as he glared at Gennai even as he pushed TK back beside Matt.

"Would you rather I have been deleted by The Hollow?" Gennai responded casually. "I needed to guarantee my safety in the digital world since you children haven't realised it yet, but The Hollow cannot be defeated."

"So, what?" TK said, voice barely level as he spoke before Tai could snap at Gennai. "You just give up and let the darkness take over? You tried to kill my partner, you coward. Just so you could be safe? Just so you wouldn't get hurt? Were you the one who locked the gates too?"

"TK..." Patamon murmured, flying to sit on his head but didn't speak.

Gennai tilted his head to the side. "The Hollow didn't want you humans interfering. I was the only one who had the power to lock the gates. I am honestly surprised on how you managed to even come to the digital world. It should have been impossible with the way we changed the very data of the digital world to be incompatible with the D-3s."

"You," Izzy murmured, anger turning to shock. "You were the reason the gates were locked and no matter what I tried, they wouldn't open. You locked us out on purpose."

"You bastard," Tai finally swore, eyes flashing with the hot rage he felt inside. Fury had made most of his words be incomprehensible as he had been muttering and cursing at Gennai's cowardice silently in his head but had managed to say that much out loud, despite the fury sealing his lips shut. His knuckles had turned white as they shook and before he could stop himself, he stormed over and punched Gennai in the face.

"Tai!" Matt hurried over and grabbed him, trying to pull him back but not nearly soon enough. Tai didn't regret anything though. Gennai had that punch long time coming.

"Why are you even here?" Izzy said quietly, looking at Gennai as he picked himself back up. "You're clearly not here just to talk so what do you want?"

Gennai stepped forward towards them. "The Hollow wants all hope to be turned into despair." He stepped towards TK and Patamon causing Tai and Matt to move in front protectively.

"Don't you dare touch TK," Matt said defensively.

"I won't," Gennai said firmly. "If he moves out of the way and lets me get rid of Patamon."

"I'd never do that!" TK snapped angrily and pulled Patamon into his arms, shifting behind Matt for once. "I will never let you hurt Patamon, you coward! No matter how much you hurt me in return." He was bristling, and Tai had never seen the younger kid this furious before although he had heard from Kari and the others about the time he punched Ken. Not that Tai could blame him right now and suddenly, it was very understandable why Gatomon had gone as dark as she had when Gennai had tried to kill Patamon before.

"Then I'll have to hurt you too," Gennai said, a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he stepped closer to them.

Izzy clenched a fist. "I won't allow that. Tentomon! I know you're tired but please get us out of here?" He raised his digivice as Tentomon took to the air.

"I don't think so," Gennai retorted as he took out a Dark Digivice and Tentomon crashed to the ground before he could even try to digivolve.

"I can't digivolve, Izzy," Tentomon said worriedly.

Tai moved further back then, Matt shifting closer to him as the two of them turned themselves into living shields in front of the others. His eyes locked with Matt's and he could tell they were both thinking the same thing: protect TK, no matter how much it hurts. They weren't going to let TK and Patamon down. Not this time. Sure, things looked impossible, but they had been here before and had gotten through it. He didn't know how but they would find a way. Tai was sure of it.

* * *

Mimi had woken up again. She and Sora had been laying a little further away from Yolei and Cody as they tried to get some rest. She had managed to sleep soundly for a few hours, before her worries about Palmon and the digimon kept waking her up. Now, after having been woken up for the third time, she gave up trying to sleep. There was no point. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until all their friends were back with them.

"Mimi?" Sora's sleepy voice said quietly. "Are you alright?"

Mimi gave Sora a soft smile. "No, but don't worry ok? You get some rest. You and Biyomon need to be in top shape in case you two need to fight after all."

Sora sat up, moving a little closer to Mimi. "You need to be too, especially if we're going to save Palmon and the others as soon as Tai and the rest come back."

Mimi didn't say anything to that. She knew Sora had her own worries after all, regarding how quiet Biyomon had become.

"Mimi," Sora said touching her hand and interrupting her thoughts. "We're going to get them back."

Mimi sighed a little. "I know we'll get them back, Sora. But things will never be the same as they were back then. I know with time, things must change but not like this. Palmon didn't believe that I would ever come to save her. She lost sight of who she was and didn't stop being honest only with herself but with everyone around her. We've shared so much together, Sora. Did it all mean so little?" Her eyes watered, and she felt a few tears fall down her cheeks. "We've faced tough enemies before, haven't we? The Dark Masters were no picnic after all and neither was Apocalymon. Palmon had faith we'd find a way when we were turned into bits of data and things were looking impossible. Then why...why would she sell out Agumon like that? Why would Gabumon not help Biyomon? Because he was scared? That doesn't make sense at all! None of this does!" She suddenly felt like she was that little girl in the first adventure who feared fighting and hated to see people get hurt. While she now understood that some fights were necessary to avoid more pain, she hated seeing their own friends hurt one another. Especially Palmon, who had been her best friend.

Sora woke up a little more at that and pulled Mimi into a hug. Mimi buried her face in her best friend's shoulder, hating that she was sniffling once again but so much was happening and once again, she felt useless to stop it. She wasn't going to run away though, not this time.

"I think Palmon was scared," Sora said softly. "Palmon probably feels awful that she did those things since like you said she isn't being honest with herself, but she was worried we would never make it here, Mimi. And maybe she thought even if we did...this was an enemy we couldn't beat."

Mimi shook her head. "But Sora, she was the one who taught me there was nothing we couldn't do when we were together." That was true. Palmon was the one who had said that if they were going to still lose friends when they didn't fight, then she'd rather fight to try and make a difference.

Sora stroked Mimi's long brown hair gently. "Then teach her what she's forgotten. As for Agumon, let Tai be the one to help him. You need to focus on bringing Palmon's faith back and helping her find a way to make up for all that she's done. Agumon's our friend too after all but Palmon needs just as much help as he does. We're going to make it through this, Mimi. I promise."

Mimi nodded. She had managed to calm down, talking to Sora about this. It hurt seeing Palmon like this but her partner hadn't given up on her in the first adventure when she was being hard to deal with, so she wouldn't either. "Yeah, you're right. We'll make it okay again. We'll find a way."


	14. Chapter 14

_Okay, so I am like super happy that people are enjoying this story so much. Reviews are very encouraging after all. They are soul-food for writers, wouldn't you agree? I want to thank one of my betareaders_ _ **Magykool**_ _for helping me overcome my mini-writer's block. Thank you! Also, a huge thanks to my three betareaders,_ _ **coolgamer, Nocturne of Eclipse**_ _and_ _ **Magykool**_ _for betareading this chapter._

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Could it Be?**

Veemon shifted from his sleep and opened his eyes to look at the clone. His vision was still a bit blurred and his thoughts drifted to Davis. He wished there was some way to get to him without hurting him more but how? These hybrids were strong, and he felt as if he couldn't think too clearly.

"Veemon?" The clone's voice said, quiet so the others wouldn't hear. "Why aren't you sleeping? You'll make the others suspicious."

Veemon shifted. "Too sore. Can't really sleep. I'm gonna go sit by the fire with Mimi and Sora."

The clone raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to deceive me by telling them the truth?" He chuckled. "You can if you want but you may never see your real partner again if you do. We're stronger than you guys are right now."

Veemon shook his head, denying that accusation. "I'm not telling them anything. Come with me, if that's the case. It might look more believable since the real Davis would be a lot more concerned, given all the beatings I took back there." There was a dullness in his voice that was in complete contrast to his former cheerful personality, but he couldn't help it. He was a horrible partner and friend. He couldn't even save Davis because he was still very weak from being beaten leading his head to be very foggy and because the clone had promised even more pain for Davis if he tried to tell his friends the truth.

"You know, that's a good point," Clone-Davis said and Veemon was about to reply when he swayed a little causing the clone to reach out and catch him.

"Davis? Veemon?" Noriko's voice interrupted them as she walked towards them. "Veemon, are you ok?"

Veemon smiled a bit. "Yeah, I was just telling Davis that I can't sleep because I'm still too sore."

"Oh, well, Davis if you want to sleep, Lunamon and I can watch over him if he comes by the fire," Noriko offered. "It's not like either of us can do much right now while we're waiting on the others."

The clone shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. I probably won't be able to sleep, knowing Veemon's sore and in pain so I'll go join Mimi and Sora as well. You should rest though. You'll need to save your energy for when we do have to fight."

"We'll kick butt in our first fight!" Lunamon said enthusiastically causing Veemon to give her a somewhat shy smile.

"I'm sure you will," Veemon encouraged, still smiling at her enthusiasm. He liked her spirit, it reminded him of how he used to be during their past adventures. He cringed suddenly as he tried to move, his body shrinking to Chibimon.

"You really don't look so good, Chibimon," Lunamon said concerned, coming over to the small digimon. "Noriko, Davis, we should get him looked at by Joe."

Chibimon felt his eyes close as he found himself wishing the real Davis was here. They could do anything when they were together, after all. However, he just nodded, he had to keep going for Davis at least. "Maybe that would be best. Can we go Davis?"

"Course!" The clone said, patting Chibimon on the head. "You did go through a lot after all. Let's go wake Joe up, guys."

* * *

Cody looked around at the tunnel they had dug to escape and was glad they had managed to lose the enemy. Yolei could be reckless sometimes...of course, this time he didn't really blame her. Having a crest would give them a huge power boost after all.

"Should we go above ground now, Cody?" Digmon asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Cody was about to reply when a sudden chill ran through him. He had this odd feeling, he didn't know why but he felt as if TK needed him and was close by. He frowned a bit. "Go a little further and then we'll go above ground."

"Why Cody?" Yolei asked as Digmon obeyed, looking at Cody in confusion.

"This is going to sound a bit strange, but I have this odd feeling that TK needs my help and he's a bit further away," Cody admitted before shifting, he knew this sounded weird, but he just felt that what he was doing was right. "I know it sounds odd and a bit illogical, but I don't know, I feel as if it's right."

Yolei paused then shrugged, she remembered when Kari was in danger at the Dark Ocean, and she found her way to her. "You two are DNA partners so it's not really that odd. You'll need to tell Digmon where though."

Cody nodded. That made sense. Patamon and Armadillomon hadn't DNA Digivolved in a while and weren't as close as they once used to be, but he and TK still were, so half of the connection was still there. That was at least something to go off. "Okay, now Digmon."

Digmon brought them up to the surface, appearing right in front of the others. "Howdy guys! Need a hand?"

"Digmon!" TK cried, eyes widening, though he was glad to see them. "Cody, Yolei. I thought you guys were at the camp site."

"Cody had a feeling you were in trouble," Yolei said simply, narrowing her eyes at Gennai and Cody clenched his fists, glowering as well. He couldn't believe Gennai would do all of this. This was unforgivable, hurting their digimon just so he could remain safe.

"Perfect timing," Tai said, a scowl present on his face. "Gennai wants to kill Patamon to gain a good number with The Hollow."

"We won't let that happen," Cody said firmly, intent on protecting his friends. "Digmon!"

Digmon nodded. "I've got you covered, Cody! Don't worry TK, I won't let any of you down. Not again."

TK smiled, relief evident on his face. "Thanks, you guys."

Yolei raised her own D-3, intent to not be left out of the fight. "Digiarmor energize!"

"Hawkmon armour-digivolve to…Shurimon: The Samurai of Sincerity!"

Cody watched as Shurimon and Digmon pushed back Gennai and his hands clenched into fists. Gennai had guided them on the World Tour, he had always been there to help them then why? Why had he done this? Why had he turned his back on their partners and hurt them like this?

"Don't think that much, Cody," Patamon said, voice sad as he spoke interrupting Cody's thoughts, watching the young digidestined worriedly. "It'll only hurt you more if you do."

"Patamon," Cody murmured, looking at the digimon of hope. "I'm so sorry. I think I'm beginning to understand why Gatomon turned in the direction she did. I don't blame her for snapping. I'm sorry he did that to you. But you know we'll never turn our backs on you no matter how hard things get."

Patamon smiled. "I know that, don't worry. I didn't stop believing even when Gatomon did. I tried telling her that our partners would never abandon us, but she said that we had never thought that Gennai would either."

Cody nodded, he could understand that. Gennai had been so helpful that none of them would have even pondered the possibility that Gennai could betray them just to save his own skin. If the circumstances were not so dire, he would have asked why but right now, no explanation could explain this. He had tried to kill Patamon, had pushed Gatomon into snapping and who knows what else? No explanation was good enough for forgiveness.

* * *

A blanket of darkness surrounded it so deeply that it was almost tangible. A maroon robe around its shoulders, steely fingers coming out of the sleeves of the robe and piercing green eyes that scanned the area. As it walked on its skeleton feet, it could hear the screams of the digimon piercing through the air. _Ah...like music to my ears._

"Palmon," Its voice sounded like a breath of ice being thrown into one's face, voice calm yet commanding, and it didn't need to shout to scare its victims.

The plant-digimon jumped, trembling from head to toe but had managed not to scream. How boring. Oh well, it had bigger fish to fry.

"Y-yes Master?" The digimon stuttered out, keeping her head bowed, not wanting to even see those haunting green eyes.

"Why is Agumon not eating?" The question was a simple one, but its eyes bored down on Palmon, promising pain if she did not give an adequate answer.

"H-he d-doesn't t-trust m-me," Palmon stuttered, keeping her head bowed as she still trembled at the gaze. "H-he's q-questioning w-why y-you w-want h-him t-to e-eat n-now...I-I e-even t-tried s-saying t-that h-his p-partner w-would w-want h-him t-to b-but h-he w-won't listen t-to m-me..."

"Ah," The calm voice responded, green eyes flashing at nothing. "So, in other words, you failed?" A wooden club appeared in its hands, a round black ball with numerous spiky needles coming from it as it moved forward. "Don't try to withhold your screams. It'll only make me angry." It struck the club down Palmon's back, causing her to fall to the ground, an alarmed scream leaving her lips.

"M-master please," Palmon coughed, pain lacing her tone. "Have mercy."

It ignored her and bore down the club again, each time it did, the hits became rougher, the music of her screams only encouraging it to continue because the music was so soothing. The digital world belonged to it and it alone. And it always would. Once the pathetic digimon had passed out and dedigivolved back to Tanemon, it ceased the torture and left the digimon there, continuing to look at the other prison cells. It saw Agumon breathing shaky breaths but still refusing to eat the food that had been given to him. _Odd...how can someone so weak have so much strength?_ It was interesting, for sure but there had to be a reason this creature was chosen to be one half of Omnimon and it would find out why. However, digimon could not digivolve if they were weak or hungry.

"SkullSatamon," its voice spoke calmly, calling out to a nearby digimon. "I want you to return Agumon to his human partner, temporarily."

"Master," SkullSatamon said, clearly sounding shocked. "If we let him go, his partner will never let us lay a hand on him again."

A bored expression appeared on its face. "Is that so? Questioning me will get you nowhere." It raised its hands, its fingers transforming into sharpened, nail like claws as he struck SkullSatamon down the middle. The last thing that he heard was SkullSatamon's screams as he fell, digital blood gathering around him as he reverted to a DigiEgg.

"Meramon," it spoke now, tone more demanding as it called out to a second digimon now. "Go put the DigiEgg in a holding cell. His life can be put to better use and maybe next time, he will learn not to question my orders."

"Yes, sir," Meramon said bowing and it bore its eyes into the flame-man digimon.

"After that, return Agumon to Tai Kamiya," it added. "Make sure they are united but keep an eye on them. Or you will be put to better purpose too."

Meramon bowed, grabbing the DigiEgg that was once SkullSatamon, leaving the main room. _Good. Everything was going according to its plan._


	15. Chapter 15

_Guys, I'm so sorry for taking this long but with home life and University, it's not always the easiest to update even though I really wanted to write more for this. Especially since this is one of my favorite chapters to write. For Daikari fans, you will love this chapter and Takari fans, hopefully you will find it sweet anyway. Thank you_ _ **coolgamer, Nocturne of Eclipse**_ _and_ _ **Magykool**_ _for betareading this chapter! Guys, what do you think of Kari's characterisation and the battle/action scene? I enjoyed writing it!_

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Light vs Dark**

Kari hoped the others had gotten away although she had a feeling if they wanted to get out, they'd need to fight Erika to do so. She brushed her fingers through Davis's spiky hair, her heart clenching as she forced back tears. She hated seeing him like this. _I should have never gotten you involved in all of this. If it weren't for me, then you wouldn't even know about the digital world. Tai and I introduced you to this place and now..._

"Don't blame yourself," Gatomon cut through her partner's self-depreciating thoughts about herself.

Kari stared at her best friend for a moment, surprised that her partner knew what she was thinking. "How did you..."

"I'm your partner," Gatomon said dryly. "It's not that hard to read you. Davis was a DigiDestined, whether you and Tai got him involved or not. I could feel that even back then when Myotismon brought the children in front of me. Obviously, Davis wasn't the eighth child, but I could tell there was something different about him in comparison to the other kids."

Kari bit her lower lip, looking back down at the boy. "So, he was chosen back then? Even if we hadn't become friends, he would have become..." She trailed off. As much as she hated to say it, the thought was surprisingly comforting that she wasn't completely responsible for Davis learning about the digital world and Digimon. Before she could think more on it, she felt movement and looked down to see Davis stirring. Ken moved closer to them as Davis opened his eyes. The hollow look in his eyes sent shivers down Kari's spine and it took all the self-restraint in her to not look away.

"Kari?" Davis said blankly, gaze boring into her, almost like he was seeing through her. "Why did you come?" His gaze slowly moved from her to Ken. "Why are you here? It's too late." He moved to sit up, cringing and Kari quickly moved to steady him.

"It's never too late when you care about someone," Kari said softly, hoping he wouldn't move again. While her and Ken had tended to his injuries the best they could, his body was clearly still catching up. She gently moved her hand to grasp his gently but instead of responding to the gentle touch, he flinched from both her and Ken. This caused her heart to sink, especially as he moved away from her to lean against the wall.

"Please just leave me alone," Davis said quietly, not looking at either of them now. "I don't need you. Either of you."

"Davis," Ken said before Kari could speak, voice filled with hurt and concern as he watched his friend. "We're not going anywhere. Not now, not ever. You didn't leave me alone even when I deserved it. I won't leave you alone now."

Davis gave a dry chuckle which was in sharp contrast to his usually light-hearted laughter that he was known for. "Are you trying to get even, Ken?

Ken shook his head. "No. But I'm not going anywhere."

"Neither am I," Kari agreed softly, moving closer again. She knew he might flinch from her, but she had to try. He needed her right now and she had to be there even if he didn't want her to be.

"I told you, I don't need you," Davis repeated, voice a bit harsher, trying to get his point across. "It's too late. I'm not your leader anymore." He reached out, taking off the goggles, holding them out for Kari to take, as if to make his point clear.

Kari's chocolate brown eyes widened and for a moment, she didn't know what to do or how to react. Helplessness arrested her, was there really no way she could help Davis? Once again, she wished Tai was here. He would know what to do. He would know how to help Davis find his courage again because she didn't even know where to start. She jumped a little as Gatomon moved forward.

"Courage is not a one-time thing," Gatomon said softly as she stepped towards Davis. "Tai would want you to keep your goggles so you can learn to have courage again. You gathered your courage for Kari back before you even knew what was going on. Back when you barely knew Veemon. You showed strength back then. It was why Tai gave you the goggles back then. You protected Kari just like he would have had he been in your shoes. That was when he knew that even when things got dark, you'd be able to find your courage again." She stopped for a moment. "It hurts, Davis I know. You've fallen and don't know how to stand back up. But you don't have to stand up on your own. I had forgotten too. How to stand up, how to fight for what was truly important until Wizardmon guided me and Kari helped me stand up."

Davis stared down at the goggles and for a moment, Kari was worried that Gatomon's words might have no effect on her friend and he would give them to her anyway but after a few moments passed, he pushed the goggles back into his pocket. He hung his head and Kari felt a knot twist in her stomach. Her friend did not deserve this. He was always making everyone smile and keeping the team's spirits up, believing in them when they had given up believing in themselves. She reached her hand out again, grasping his hand giving it a squeeze. He didn't pull away this time but didn't return the squeeze either like he would have if the situation was any different.

"You can do this," Wormmon added, worry for their leader and his partner in his voice. "If not for yourself, then for Veemon."

Kari bit her lower lip, worry for Veemon growing. "Veemon is still with the clone..."

Davis scoffed. "He doesn't even realise it's not me. And I'm his partner."

"He might be staying silent for another reason," Kari said softly, squeezing his hand again, not liking that he would doubt his partner. "Veemon would definitely know the difference between you and a clone." She paused for a moment. "I would have as well, and Ken did too. You're important to all of us, Davis." Her eyes locked with his. "You know I can't lie right?" She brushed her fingers gently against his hand, a small smile gracing her beautiful features. "You're special to me."

"Awwww how touching," A playful voice dawned, and Kari could feel Davis's grip tightening around her hand as Ken's eyes flashed. Her own eyes hardened slightly as the blonde stepped into the room. She wasn't one to normally hate people but those who harmed her precious ones certainly made that list without much of a doubt.

"You," Ken spat with more hostility than Kari had ever heard from the raven-haired boy. "Haven't you done enough?"

Erika hummed. "Oh, don't get mad at me. I just simply took advantage of a situation. You're the ones who fell for the trick. Not very good friends if you ask me." She stepped towards Ken. "You call yourself his best friend after all but not being able to tell the difference between a real and a fake version of him..." She trailed off as Davis flinched at that.

"Do you think that excuses you?" Kari asked softly, gently moving in front of Davis, shielding him from view. Yolei had always said that in Psychology, it wasn't easy to see your tormentor so soon after the torture so if she could block Davis's view of Erika then maybe she could ease his mind even if it was just a little.

Erika laughed at Kari's words. "Oh, you want me to feel bad? Why? It's not like he didn't enjoy what I did to him. Humans are never faithful to each other. If he really loved you, he would have fought harder. Ne Davis? Don't you want more?" She stepped closer and Davis's face flushed causing him to hide his face even as Ken moved closer to him.

"Don't taunt him," Kari said, tone quiet but cold as her hands were beginning to tremble. She never liked resorting to this kind of thing - that was always more of Tai's thing to give in to these impulses but this person - creature, because she clearly didn't have any humanity was grating her last nerve. "You hurt him." She didn't respond to the comment about Davis loving her because she wasn't sure how to and this witch was probably just exaggerating Davis's crush to make him feel worse.

All traces of amusement left Erika's face and this time, a colder chuckle escaped her as she stepped towards Kari. She was slightly taller than Kari in height causing her to tower over the brunette.

"What are you going to do about it?" Erika said calmly. "You weren't able to stop me then and you won't be able to stop me again." A smirk filled her face. "Or maybe I should show you how helpless you are by brutally raping him again, this time right in front of you." She moved forward, and Kari snapped. She couldn't stand hearing this anymore. She marched forward, raising her hand and striking Erika across the face.

"You're never touching him again," Kari said fiercely, eyes flashing as she took out her digivice, her Crest glowing sharply in her heart. "I won't let you hurt any of those precious to me, ever again. Gatomon!"

"Nuh-uh, princess," Erika cooed, raising her own Dark Digivice. "You're on my turf and digivolving isn't allowed here."

An innocent smile graced Kari's face, eyes widening in an almost childlike expression. "Is that so? Ken, take care of Davis." She raised her D-3 in the air. "Digiarmour energise!"

"Gatomon armourdigivolve to...Nefertimon:The Angel of Light!"

Erika raised an eyebrow as she observed Nefertimon. "Impressive. Davis, you didn't tell me your princess could do this." She laughed. "Oh well, it wouldn't be fun to kill her if there wasn't a bit of a challenge."

Davis pulled away from Ken, reaching out and timidly grasping Kari's hand. His hand was trembling, but he managed to steady it, voice pleading as he tried to get Kari to step down. "Kari, don't. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Kari smiled at him. "Nothing will happen to me." Her features softened as she turned to regard him. "You said once that even if the darkness is scary, I don't have to face it alone. You're scared, Davis and that's okay. It's alright to be scared as long as you're not alone."

"She's a cheater," Davis said quietly. "She'll cheat, and you'll be hurt. Please Kari...I'm not worth it."

Kari squeezed Davis's hand, leaning over to brush her lips against his cheek, a reassuring look on her face. "You are to me. Please. Trust me." With that, she pulled her hand out of Davis's and moved forward towards Erika. "Nefertimon. Make her pay."

Nefertimon swung into the air, firing jewels from her paws. "Nile Jewelry!"

Erika raised her hands from where she stood, shooting icicles from them which met with the jewels mid-way, the attacks canceling each other out.

"Is that all you've got?" Erika mocked, sounding bored. "Given how much Davis spoke of your partner, I expected a little more spunk."

"I'm just getting warmed up," Nefertimon returned just as coolly, flying circles around Erika and Kari realized something. Erika was shooting from one spot only, could that mean her power was limited? If that was the case, then Nefertimon had an advantage! She didn't speak although stepped forward cautiously, tilting her head and meeting her partner's eyes. Speaking might alert Erika to their plan and she may find a way to counter it.

"Is that so?" Erika hummed.

"Of course," Nefertimon said, preparing her next attack. "Rosetta Stone!" A stone appeared above her head before it broke into smaller slabs, shooting themselves at the enemy. This one made direct contact with its target, sending Erika flying back against the wall before she could even move to make a counterattack.

Erika coughed as she hit the wall and the attack had hurt her bad, a scar running down her cheek, blood trickling from the wound but she managed to stand, eyes hard. "I was going easy on you but you ruined my face. You'll pay for that." She moved her fingers, eyes glowing red and fog started to spread through the room. A chill ran down Kari's spine and she rubbed her hands together as the temperature of the room began to drop. She saw what Erika was doing - she controlled ice after all, clearly so this should have been expected.

"Nefertimon!" Kari called out and Nefertimon used an attack to shoot the dark digivice towards where Kari, Davis and Ken were. Once it was close enough, Kari picked it up and tossed it over to Ken.

Ken blinked. "Kari?"

"I need you to disable this," Kari managed to speak without stuttering but she knew if the temperature got any lower, they could all die. "Nefertimon, distract her. Hurry Ken." She stepped back reaching out and pulling Davis close to her, both to spread some of her body warmth to him and to gain some of his. He remained limp in her arms and if she was honest, that stung. But right now, there were more important things to worry about.

Ken nodded, beginning to focus as Wormmon helped him. He opened the back, fiddled around with it before turning to his partner. "Can you web the circuits in the back?"

Wormmon nodded. "Silk Thread!" He made careful yet sharp threads to bind the circuits of the dark digivice. "Now."

Kari had begun to shiver and was struggling to hold her D-3 but Davis's hand gripped around hers which made her own grip become firmer. He wasn't looking at her, but he was trying and that was enough for her to try and keep going.

Nefertimon dedigivolved back to Gatomon. "Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon covered the room in a bathing light which made the temperature return to normal. Kari coughed a little but smiled as the room returned to normal temperature. Her head was spinning a little as she stepped forward, but she needed to stay strong.

"Knock her unconscious, Angewomon," Kari said softly as she locked eyes with Erika who was wounded anyway. "I won't kill you but stay away from the people I care about."

Erika chuckled. "You're naive, Kari. Your mercy will cost you."

"Holy Kick!" Angewomon swirled, kicking Erika across the face. The blonde woman swayed, falling unconscious.

Kari moved back to Davis and Ken, nausea building inside her from the sudden changes in temperature, but she tried to smile. "Come on, let's get out of here." She was about to say more when Angewomon lifted her into her arms.

"I've got Kari," Angewomon said. "Wormmon, can Stingmon take both Davis and Ken?"

Wormmon nodded. "Of course. Ken-chan!"

Ken frowned a bit. "Are you recovered enough too?"

Wormmon smiled. "When I'm with you, Ken-chan, I feel like I can do anything!"

Ken caressed his partner's head in the palm of his hand gently. "Alright then. Go for it."

"Wormmon digivolve to...Stingmon!"

Kari leaned against Angewomon, feeling a bit better in her partner's arms which were warm and almost healing in a way as she watched Stingmon lift Ken and Davis into each of his arms. Hopefully, this time, they would get out without too many issues.


End file.
